


Ri, Two, and the Mystery of Lucario

by RitheLucario



Series: Ri and Two [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew", M/M, Mewcario, Twocario
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:14:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 66,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RitheLucario/pseuds/RitheLucario
Summary: Ri, a Lucario, Two, a Mewtwo, and Red, a Zoroark spend a day relaxing, but a movie from another world about pokemon brings them to wonder if the same things had happened on their world, too. Their research brings them to a city-state northwest of Kanto named Rota, where they happen upon a yearly celebration of the "Guardian of Aura" who had saved the kingdom from near-certain destruction. They aren't there for the celebration, though - they are there to find a Lucario who disappeared from the legends.So, this is a rewrite of "Lucario and the Mystery of Mew." It's perhaps my favorite Pokemon movie, but it has many problems, and I (perhaps foolishly) believed I could iron them out myself. It was a lot of fun trying to figure out how Lucario would develop as a character while living with Ri, Two, and Red, as opposed to how he did with Ash in the movie, and it was also interesting to explore how traumatic it must've been for Lucario to be trapped in the staff when the movie basically overlooked it. This is a rather poor introduction to Ri and Two since it assumes the reader already knows who they are, but I believe it's a fairly good story, so I hope that it isn't too confusing.
Relationships: Lucario/Mewtwo (Pokemon)
Series: Ri and Two [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2176869
Kudos: 1





	Ri, Two, and the Mystery of Lucario

**\--––—Prologue—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 1—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 2—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 3—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 4—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 5—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 6—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 7—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 8—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 9—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 10—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 11—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 12—––-- **

**\--––—Chapter 13—––-- **

**\--––—Epilogue—––-- **

#  \--––—Prologue—––--

It was an ordinary fall morning when Ri woke up. It was cool outside, but it didn’t mean much since he, Two, and Red lived underground. It was refreshing anyway, knowing that outside, the trees were turning all sorts of colors, and the air was crisp and refreshing. Ri would’ve suggested to Two they should go out for a walk in Viridian Forest if they hadn’t just done that the day before. Instead, it felt like a day to stay inside and relax. He waited for Two to get up, ready to enjoy the day with his mate. Eventually, Two stirred beside him, signalling to him it was OK to get up.

_Good morning,_ Two said, leaning up and rubbing his eyes.

_Good morning._

They took a moment to look at each other, making eye contact and holding it for a short while. Two smiled, just a little, so Ri felt like smiling a bit more. Two was a handsome Mewtwo, Ri thought, his fur shone with a depth that other Mewtwo didn’t get to have, and it made him look thoroughly more natural. It made him a lot softer, too, which was a plus, and also warmer when it was colder like this. Ri didn’t know at first that Two’s fur was the exception rather than the rule, so it surprised him the first couple times he met Mewtwo who didn’t have fur. It was a pleasant surprise, though – something that made him appreciate Two more.

_We should get up,_ Two said, interrupting Ri’s thoughts. Ri focused back on Two again; he’d spaced out, distracted by wondering about how the pokemon they left on other worlds were doing.

_I guess you’re right,_ he replied. They got up together, then went straight to the kitchen to make themselves breakfast. Two started making the actual food, but Ri made himself and Two some coffee, using freshly ground beans and a pour over to have control over all the many variables of brewing coffee. He looked for Red, too, and guessed that he was still sleeping, since he didn’t sense him anywhere. That was a compromise they had made with Red when he agreed to move in with them more permanently: they installed devices in his room which blocked their senses out of it, so that Red could have a place to be truly alone, something which he missed while travelling with them in Galar. He had a computer in there, so he could do things without being monitored by them, but he spent enough time outside of his room, too, like reading in their office with them when they were working on their own computers, or playing games with them in their living room, or training with them. Red was somewhat limited to Cinnabar when he went out, so lately Ri and Two tried offering to bring him with them just so he could go somewhere other than the abandoned human settlement on the other side of the island.

Ri finished the coffee earlier than Two finished breakfast, but it gave him time to clean up and let the coffee cool before drinking it. Even though it was cool outside, and also inside their home, Ri was sensitive to heat because of his steel typing, and he didn’t like the things he ate and drank to be hot. The temperature he needed to brew coffee at was way too hot for him – it was too hot for anybody, he knew – but it wasn’t tolerable to him until it had cooled to what most others considered to be lukewarm, at least for coffee. By the time he was done cleaning up, Two was done with breakfast, so Ri brought the decanter of coffee and two mugs to the table in the dining room beside the kitchen so he could pour some for Two, too. He poured just a bit for Two, since Two had to worry about being poisoned by it, and a moderate amount for himself, since though he didn’t have to worry about being poisoned, he found that having too much made him jittery and overexcited, which was hard for them both to handle. Two came with the food, a somewhat boring hot cereal like oatmeal, but he also brought berries and syrups to make it interesting, along with milk to help cool it off and also bowls and spoons. Ri waited for Two to take some of the cereal himself, then took it when Two handed the bowl to him and spooned himself some out. He then waited for Two to finish with the berries before taking his own, but took the syrup while he waited to save some time and poured some onto his cereal. He and Two exchanged the syrup and berries, and Two beat Ri to the milk, so he had to wait a moment for that, too. Ri took the milk when Two was finished with it, and poured some in his cereal, but not his coffee – he made coffee he liked enough to drink black.

_What do you think we should do today?_ Two finally asked, after being silent for quite a while.

_I don’t know,_ Ri replied. _I feel like chilling here at home._

_That sounds pretty good._

It had been a surprisingly tough week for their gym, so they ended up tied to it more than they usually were the past couple days. They felt like it was becoming a bit much, so they decided to close for a few days to recover and prepare for another wave of challengers. They had spent the last day outside, walking in the forest and visiting the city, but now they were exhausted from _that,_ so chilling indoors really appealed to Ri, and even Two.

_I was thinking we could sit in the living room all day and do nothing._

_Right now, I can’t argue._

It was settled, then, and Ri was looking forward to it.

They ate together at the table, and drank their coffee, allowing themselves to spend an hour or so since their plan was basically no plan. They talked a bit, until the dishes in front of them were bothering them enough to clean them up. They went to the living room together and sat on the couch, which faced the tv so they could watch, play, or stare at it. They considered their options for a little while before Ri somewhat absentmindedly realized Red still wasn’t awake.

_Red isn’t up yet._

_I guess it’s going to be a lazy day for all of us,_ Two replied.

_Sometimes it’s just that sort of day._

And it was, when Ri decided to check the weather. It was chilly, even for him, and fairly breezy, and bright and sunny. Maybe that meant it was a good day to go out, but it was a good day to stay inside and enjoy being warm, too; they decided to be warm today.

It was early afternoon by the time they decided what to do, but it still felt early to them so they decided to leave games and tv for later and teleported themselves their e-readers so they could read something together. They started a new book, this time one about a Zeraora, a pokemon that Ri and Two hadn’t met, yet. They were a mythical pokemon to the humans, and it was interesting to Ri and Two to read how the humans characterized such legendary pokemon. It was from the Zeraora’s point of view, so it was an intriguing to read how humans believed pokemon thought and acted. It was a fairly benign book, Ri was happy to see. The author had chosen to anthropomorphize the Zeraora to the point of being human, so Ri and Two could settle into it and enjoy it rather than worry and become aggravated over inaccurate details. In fact, they had chosen that book since they’d read other works by the same author, and came to realize that this author liked to write books from pokemon perspectives where the pokemon were treated almost human-like.

An hour or so into reading, Ri and Two finally sensed Red emerge from his room. They waited until he came out to greet him, though – they learned that it tended to be best not to remind Red that they could read his mind.

“Good afternoon,” Red said while sleepily shuffling into the living room.

_Good afternoon._ Ri and Two said, somewhat together.

“You weren’t planning on training or doing anything today, right?” he asked, seeing them sitting comfortably and reading rather than training or sitting at their desks.

_No, we’re sitting here and doing nothing._ Ri said

“Good,” he said, turning back around. Ri sensed the Zoroark find something to eat and then return to his room, back out of their senses while he turned back to his book.

_It seems that we’re all on the same page today,_ Two said.

_Yeah,_ Ri said, noticing how Two was using the book metaphor while they were reading.

_I think you might be ahead of me, though – don’t read too far ahead so you don’t spoil anything for me._

_Read faster so you keep up._

_I’ll try._ Ri said, seeing Two’s point.

_I’ll try to slow down a bit._ Two said, conceding as well.

They didn’t actually read the same book together at the same time often, for exactly this reason. Sensing each other, they could absorb what the other was reading to some extent. Instead, they tended to read different things, which could also be confusing if they found themselves more interested in the others’ book. Sometimes, they ended up switching books because they realized they were both paying more attention to what the other was reading instead of their own book.

They both became mentally saturated within a couple hours of Red leaving, so they decided to stop reading. They were planning on doing nothing, after all, and reading was starting to become doing something. Instead, they decided to play some games. A recent update had come out for Super Smash Bros Ultimate on the dragons’ world, and Lucario had received a number of buffs, making Ri excited to play him. They chose that, then, and played for a while, battling others online since it wasn’t too productive battling each other. They could coordinate mentally, so they were a good team. Playing online was almost as rewarding though as battling in real life, for the simple reason that they couldn’t sense their opponents before they acted. They were able to coordinate, but they didn’t have perfect information when battling others, so they had to read and guess like everyone else did when playing. It was fun, and it was even good practice for them, even though their in-game movesets didn’t even marginally represent how they fought in real life. Lucario’s in-game aura mechanic was cool – Ri liked being able to surprise opponents with powerful attacks when it seemed like he was losing – but he didn’t fight like that in real life. He didn’t get more powerful when he got beat up, he was more like a glass cannon, and he generally protected himself by dodging, blocking, or deflecting attacks.

After doing that for some time, it felt appropriately like lunch time, so they got up and made themselves some sandwiches. They brought them back to the living room this time to eat, rather than sitting in the dining room, and they picked up their controllers to play a different, less competitive game. They couldn’t really play it together, but they settled on Pokemon Sword, since they hadn’t had much of a chance yet to explore the new DLC. Ri liked being able to walk/run/ride with even just one of his pokemon at a time; he felt that that’s how it _should_ be, since it felt nearly like sensory deprivation to be trapped in a pokeball for any length of time. He liked it even though when he rode his bike with Mewtwo, Mewtwo was so slow he couldn’t keep up even though Two could easily float along with a bike. In-game he kept teleporting since Ri was riding too far away from him. They spent a while searching for the many Diglett hiding in the overworld, but it frustrated them pretty quickly since in real life they’d just be able to sense any that were hiding, while in-game they were looking for pixels that were sometimes just slightly off-color in the ground.

After spending a bit of time at the battle tower, they decided it was time to do something else again. They got up for a little while, and stretched since they’d been fairly inactive all day. Their mood hadn’t changed, though – they still intended to do nothing – so Two sat back down, and Ri sat down next to him, leaning back on Two’s side. Two put his arm over him, so they were both comfortable, and Ri watched for a while while Two played something instead, a technical platformer with a pixel art style and an _amazing_ soundtrack.

A couple hours later, they stopped playing and decided to just sit for a little while. Ri was a fighting type, but he didn’t often meditate like fighting types often did. At least, he didn’t meditate like fighting types normally meditated. Others tried meditating to a mindset of ‘nothingness,’ some sort of state where they could battle without being influenced by other things, but that never worked for Ri. He focused on his aura burning within him – it always did, since he was always producing it – but he wondered what his body did with the excess aura. Battling, he always focused on _something,_ usually clearing his mind to protect himself, or to help Two, or to beat another pokemon without totally embarrassing them. That singular _thing_ helped him to focus on what he needed to; it wasn’t so much focusing on nothing in particular as much as getting his priorities straight. He ‘meditated’ like this, at least until he sensed Two feeling just a bit lonely. He stopped immediately, preferring to talk with his mate rather than find ‘inner peace.’ Talking with Two was much more effective, anyway, and it helped them both feel good.

_You ever consider making a video game?_ Two asked once he realized Ri was paying closer attention to him.

_Not really – never seriously,_ Ri said.

_Me neither._

But of course, now, they both put their full attention to the idea of it.

_We have most of what we need,_ Ri said. _You could code it, I could do the music._

_Is Red artistic?_ Two asked. They both laughed a bit – the thought of Red drawing or painting or doing really anything artistic was somewhat absurd.

_I guess maybe that’s why we never really considered it before,_ Ri said.

While they were talking, an hour or so later, Red appeared again, interrupting them.

“So we really aren’t doing anything today?” he asked, upon coming out and seeing them still sitting on the couch, now seemingly doing absolutely nothing.

_We’re relaxing,_ Two said. _That’s technically doing something._

“Alright.”

Ri sensed him walk back somewhat confused and almost even worried, like he was thinking to himself “usually they’re more active than this.” It left Ri and Two both somewhat confused and worried, too, since Red wasn’t usually so self-isolating. They let it go, for now, but they got up to have dinner, since it was already getting pretty late. Red emerged again to have some, but he went back pretty soon, making Ri and Two wonder what was going on. They let it go, though, and ate together at the table. Red didn’t seem upset, or annoyed, or hurt, so they guessed it was something he was excited about – perhaps that he thought they wouldn’t be interested in.

After dinner, they went back to the living room. It was 9:30 already by the time they finished cleaning up after dinner, so they knew it would be dark out, but while it seemed appealing to go out even onto the island, it would be breaking their commitment to stay inside and do nothing, so they left it for the next day to do.

Even though it was getting late, it didn’t feel late to any of them, since they’d all gotten up so late in the first place. Ri and Two found a second wind to play another Switch game, and then settled down around 11:00 to find something to calm down a bit before settling into their room to sleep. They settled on watching a movie, which was actually something they did quite rarely. Since they were thinking about it since reading the book, they decided to watch one of the pokemon movies from the dragons’ world to see how humans characterized pokemon on worlds where they didn’t exist. They had watched the ones with Mewtwo in it already, when they rarely felt like they could do it, so they chose another: “Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.” Ri rented it on one of the dragons’ world’s platforms, and they prepared their TV to watch it.

_Perhaps Red wants to watch, too?_ Two asked.

_He might. We should check on him anyway._

Ri got up, and found Red’s room. He knocked on his door to announce he was there, and Red opened it.

“Come in?” he said, sitting at his computer with headphones. He didn’t bother taking them off; he’d hear Ri in his head, anyway, so it wasn’t a problem with them on. Ri went in, and noticed that Red was doing – he was playing an FPS game. Ri looked away; he and Two weren’t really interested in shooting games. They both had had enough experience in real life feeling like gods of life and death – it wasn’t something they wanted to emulate in a game.

“A new game came out on the dragons’ world. I was excited to play it, and I didn’t expect you guys to let me play it all day. I figured you wouldn’t be interested, so I didn’t say anything.”

_You’re right – thanks for keeping quiet about it. You must’ve been pretty excited if you played it all day._

“What did you want?”

_Two and I were going to watch a pokemon movie from the dragons’ world. Do you want to watch, too?_

“Aren’t those made for children?” Red asked, pausing his game and looking away from his screen.

_Yeah?_

“Aren’t they bad?”

_Generally._

“OK.” Red didn’t bother quitting his game, but he set down his headphones and turned off his monitor and got up to follow Ri out. They went back out to Two, and Ri sat down next to him, then Red sat down next to Ri. It wasn’t so awkward anymore to sit next to each other like that; at first, Red didn’t want to be that close unless he had to, and when he did, Ri wasn’t sure whether he could cuddle with Two or not. Now, Red didn’t mind so much sitting next to them _or_ them cuddling, so Ri felt free to lean into Two’s side again as he started the movie.

The movie was… pretty bad. It was hard watching a movie in which Ash was a main character, but at least this Ash wasn’t real, so at least Ri could get through it. He needed to take a short break, though, when Ash was being mean to Lucario, since it threatened to give him flashbacks. He took the moment to get up and find something they could snack on, deciding on crackers and cheese. And then Lucario just sort of… forgot about being plucked out of time, and he never actually dealt with the death of Sir Aaron. He readily forgave Ash when Ash apologized, even though Ash was totally unfair to him, and Ash totally forgot to be mean to him the moment May was like “Hey Ash, that was mean.”

And then – Lucario’s sacrifice in the end seemed totally unnecessary. In fact – the whole story seemed unnecessary. If Sir Aaron had brought Lucario, couldn’t they have handled healing Mew together? Couldn’t Ash and Lucario have handled it together in the end, at least? Ri could see why Sir Aaron ended up sacrificing himself, but it seemed useless to him for Lucario to sacrifice himself in the end.

Listening to the end song though while the credits were rolling, it made them think.

_Do you guys think this happened here?_ Ri asked.

_I’ve never heard of this place, where is it?_

“I haven’t either.”

Ri teleported himself his laptop to take a look. A quick search showed him where it was, but he didn’t know if it existed yet on their world.

_It’s_ Rota, _a city-state just northwest of Mt. Moon._ He said, so Two and Red knew, too.

_It is interesting that we haven’t heard of it if it is so close by,_ Two said.

“I’ve been all over Kanto, I’ve never heard of it.”

The movie was meant to calm them down, but now Ri was just intrigued and excited to explore this new place.

_I think it would be interesting to go see if it exists,_ Ri said.

_I would like to see, too._

“Would that mean that the tree and Lucario exist, too?” Red asked.

… _One step at a time._ Ri wasn’t ready to face the rest of that, yet, he was just excited to go out and see somewhere new without leaving the continent.

“Even if they don’t, it would be cool to see the palace.”

_It seems like a good idea to visit, then,_ Two said.

_Yeah,_ Ri agreed.

An edge came to Red’s expression, which made Ri think he was excited, too.

“Are we going to do that tomorrow, then?”

They were smart enough _not to say_ when they were going to reopen their gym. They had planned to close for just a couple days, but they could easily let it stay closed for longer if they wanted. If the League asked, they had a valid reason for once: they were going to investigate leads that they’d heard of ancient Lucario just north of Kanto. Even if the lead was a movie from another world, and they were doing it more just because they were interested than for any scientific reason, it still _sounded_ valid.

But, the thought of leaving in the _morning_ to visit Rota suddenly intimidated Ri, given that he didn’t know how long to expect to stay there.

_What if this story turns out to be true, though?_

_Like you said, we’ll get there when we get there,_ Two said.

Two was right – by extension, Ri was right. He couldn’t let himself think too far ahead.

“Anyway, it was some human that made the tree rock thing start to die, so if it’s the same here, we just have to keep any humans from hurting it.”

Red seemed reasonable, but Ri worried that it wouldn’t work out that way. He checked the time, and realized how late it was.

_It seems late now that we’re planning on getting up tomorrow and going somewhere._

_We’re still barely tired, though. That was a bad movie to wind down to._

_Maybe,_ Ri thought, _but we wouldn’t’ve thought to do this if we didn’t watch it._

“I’m going to try to go to sleep anyway, I don’t want to be tired tomorrow.”

_Sounds good,_ Ri said.

Red went away, back to his room for a moment, then back out again to prepare for bed. Ri and Two waited for a bit, letting him finish first before going to bed themselves. When they finally got to bed, they were still too excited/intimidated to sleep, so they read a little bit more to calm down.

#  \--––—Chapter 1—––--

In the morning, they made breakfast the same way, but Red was up, too, so Two made enough for all three of them. After that, they made sure everything was prepared for them to be gone for a while, then they left their home behind. Two floated them all using his power, then flew them to Mt. Moon, where they set down at the peak to try to find Rota. They were lucky it was a clear day, so they could see fairly easily. It was cool, too, emphasized by the chill that made even Ri cold while Two was flying them. Mt. Moon was high up, too, so it was _really_ cold up there, but once they stopped moving so much, Ri’s fur started insulating him like it was supposed to, so it was actually a little more tolerable.

_I don’t know why we didn’t make our home up here,_ Ri said, seeing how tranquil it felt.

_At the time, it was kind of taken._ Two said.

“I remember training here,” Red explained. “It isn’t so bad now that I’m a pokemon.”

Ri wondered what made Red think to climb Mt. Moon to train. There weren’t many pokemon around – it was too cold and rocky for most of them, and most of the rock types preferred living _in_ the mountain. As far as Ri understood, training meant battling other pokemon, so it seemed counterintuitive to go someplace there weren’t pokemon to train.

Ri pulled himself to concentrate, and looked out northwest to try to find Rota – specifically, Camaran Palace, or even the tree. They all looked for it together, generally where they knew northwest was.

_It’s pretty hard to see,_ Two mentioned.

_We don’t know what we’re looking for; that doesn’t help._

“No…”

They kept looking – it didn’t help that Ri and Two couldn’t sense that far. They had to rely on their sight, and it was so much easier sensing that they fairly quickly grew frustrated with it. They sat down to rest their eyes for a moment while Red kept looking.

“I thought you two would be good at something like this,” he said, feeling superior to them

_Hidden Object games aren’t my favorite type of game to play,_ Ri said, thinking of the genre of video game.

_There never seemed to be a point in looking for things visually._

“Should we keep flying, then?” Red asked.

_We don’t even know what to sense for. I suppose it might help; maybe Rota is a lot farther than the internet made it seem to be._ Ri said.

_Alright,_ Two said, lifting them up again. He flew them northwest, a bit slower now because they needed to be able to look and sense around. It didn’t take long, however, for Ri to find it. He smacked himself in the forehead with his paw.

_Ow!_ He said, doing it a bit harder than he meant to.

_You keep forgetting, being encased in my psychic power changes how effective your muscles are._

_I know,_ Ri said. Two just looked where he sensed Ri was looking when he found Rota, amused.

Ri _did_ know – it was a physics fluke which was a consequence of the energy that Two was applying to his body. Effectively, the same energy that was lifting him up was also poured into his arm when he moved it. However, however much Ri had learned from Two, his mind hadn’t adapted to the idea of psychic power as much as Two’s mind was naturally inclined to it. It seemed natural to him that being lifted like this wouldn’t change how his limbs moved, so he tended to forget sometimes that it didn’t work that way. He didn’t mind that Two found it funny, he was just happy that Two was able to enjoy that about him.

_I think I see it,_ Two said. Ri sensed him as he changed direction to fly toward it, and it seemed like they were thinking of the same place, so he didn’t bother to say anything. Now that they had a destination in mind, Two sped them to it as quickly as possible, so in a couple minutes they were close enough to see what it was Ri found.

It was a tree, at least it seemed like it from a distance. It was huge, however, and upon closer inspection it was actually a rock formation. Upon it, a forest grew, so that it looked a bit like a real tree.

_The Tree of Life?_ Two asked, surprised that they had been able to find it.

_Perhaps,_ Ri said. _We still have to find the palace._

Now that they knew one place, they all looked around while floating for the other – the one they actually wanted to find. Red found it, eventually, in the distance.

“It’s over there,” Red said, rather unhelpfully. Ri and Two both sensed him, though, and figured out what he meant.

_You’re lucky we were able to sense you to figure out what you meant,_ Ri said. Red shrugged.

“You’re lucky I’m around to actually find it for you.”

_True._

Ri and Two both looked, and saw what Red meant. It seemed like a speck – something either of them would’ve looked over totally.

_Let’s go, then,_ Two said, speeding them off again.

Within another couple minutes, they touched down outside of Camaran Palace. Ri sensed a lot of people inside, and it quickly intimidated him.

_I think perhaps we should hide ourselves so we don’t make a commotion,_ he said.

_I agree,_ Two replied.

“Makes sense.”

So, they chose humans to look like. Red chose himself as a human – he’d had the most practice with that, after all, while Ri and Two chose characteristics of many people around them to form disguises which would seem local, but would be totally unidentifiable. As usual, Red’s Illusion caught Ri off-guard and made it hard for him to look at Red. It was confusing to him to see a human and sense a Zoroark, but it wasn’t too hard for Two because he didn’t sense “Red the Zoroark” as much as just “Red.”

_Are we ready?_ Ri asked.

_As long as you are,_ Two said.

“Yeah,” Red said.

Ri sighed, preparing himself to throw himself into the zoo of humans. At least Two was with him – it was always better with Two.

They all walked in together. Ri and Two weren’t surprised by all the people, but Red certainly was.

“Wow, this is a lot of people!”

_Yeah…_ Ri said, somewhat intimidated.

_I’m here, it’ll be OK._

_Thanks._

It certainly _was_ a lot of people. A couple of them shocked Ri by coming up to them.

“Welcome, welcome to the festival! You look like pokemon trainers – won’t you be participating in the tournament to win the honor of being this year’s Guardian of the Aura?

“ _Luc!”_ Ri said – out loud – startled, but remembering to speak out loud, yet being stressed enough to forget to speak in human.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” The human asked, confused by Ri’s reaction. Ri took a moment to calm down and figure out what was happening. He realized that he wasn’t speaking human, so he forced himself to think through what he wanted to say to say it with his mouth in human.

“– There’s a festival happening?”

“Don’t you know about it?” The other person asked. “Rotans celebrate the Guardian of the Aura’s heroic efforts to save Camaran Palace and the kingdom from war hundred of years ago by having this festival every year.”

The problem, Ri realized, with looking like average Rotans was that they _weren’t_ average Rotans, and interacting with people, people would assume they were. It made it hard for Ri to say anything, but it didn’t help that he realized that they were _celebrating_ what sir Aaron did.

“No, we’re actually visiting from Kanto.”

“Visitors? We hardly get visitors, even to such a festive occasion! We’re honored to have you! Will you be participating in the tournament?”

“– No,” Ri said curtly. He made sure to sense from Two and Red first, but he didn’t want to partake in any sort of celebration of Sir Aaron beyond wondering about Lucario.

“Well, you’re free to observe the tourney at your leisure, and partake in the other festivities as you will. We hope you enjoy your time here in Rota!”

“– Thanks,” Ri said, honestly hoping that he, Two, and Red could enjoy themselves. The people left them alone, finally, allowing them to figure out for themselves what was happening. They looked around, and things certainly seemed festive. Lots of people were wearing medieval-looking costumes – Ri couldn’t imagine anybody wearing stuff like this seriously, so it had to be for fun. They were bustling around the Palace square, playing games, or going to see the matches, or walking around aimlessly with friends. The square was decorated with colorful banners and flags and other medieval-fair looking things, which all seemed kind of gaudy to Ri, especially since the castle around it was grey, plain, and somewhat dull. Ri kind of felt that the medieval era was kind of dull and plain like the castle around them, but he’d read that the clothes and things medieval people used to celebrate were bright, too. It seemed like people of any era liked bright colors and things that looked nice. He guiltily figured _he_ liked brightly lit things – especially things that emitted their own, colorful light, like the lines of the battlefield of their gym – but he cast it aside because he couldn’t bear to make that comparison – he didn’t want to regret liking something.

Something about the festivities was exciting to Ri, but he deeply wished that it were pokemon rather than people. He was happy they were there purely for fun, though, since it was easier to sense large crowds when most of the people in it were generally happy. It made it easier on him as they walked through, exploring what sorts of things Rotans liked doing to celebrate. There were lots of things, like the carnival games, sweet foods – which they sampled – the costumes, and even some music, which Ri convinced Two and Red to stay for. It was all interesting, but they found themselves gravitating toward the tournament, which seemed to be happening continually over the course of the celebration. It was obviously the main event, Ri saw, when they entered the stadium in which it was happening. It was huge, and there were tons of people inside watching – which they could sense beforehand, but it was still intimidating to see. Ri wondered what they all really liked about it – he wondered what was so interesting about watching pokemon beat each other up, effectively. He didn’t think about it so much before, but after Galar, he became acutely aware of how weird it was. It was like human boxing, but if the humans were being controlled by somebody who had no consequence of losing. Ri understood the importance of the battle, but making it into a spectacle corrupted it and lessened its meaning.

They went into the crowd and watched anyway – Ri had to admit that there were other elements to the battle which made this sort of tournament a valid place to display them, as long as the point was to celebrate people and pokemon together. It hung in Ri’s mind that this was a celebration of Sir Aaron, supposedly, and Lucario wasn’t a part of it – it ended up making it hard for Ri to enjoy the battles because he thought Lucario deserved to be celebrated alongside Sir Aaron.

They all shared the sentiment, and It made it hard for them to stay any longer than a little while, even though they were interested at first. They came back, however, to see the championship. Ri and Two wanted to see what sort of person Rota would crown their Guardian, while Red was (somewhat guiltily now, after Ri’s experience in Ballonlea) interested in seeing the battle. It was interesting, Ri had to admit, but what was far more interesting was the person who won in the end. He was so smug about it, Ri didn’t have to sense to see it, but the feeling of it overwhelmed him in disgust.

_Ri?_ Two asked. Ri sensed he was worried; it snapped him out of it. He tried to let it go, since they weren’t there for that so much as seeing if Lucario was real, too. He calmed himself down, leaning into Two’s side to remember not to become caught up in stuff like that, and watched as the entire stadium glorified this unworthy human while he basked in the praise of his victory.

Eventually, Ri felt Two lead him away as it was being too much for him, but they waited outside the stadium for Red to join them.

“You’re going to be fine, right?” Red asked, as he was worried too that Ri was so bothered.

_I’m fine,_ Ri said. _I just need to distract myself._ He said, following beside Red with Two as he walked by. They looked around for something to do, and settled on trying some of the games that were around. They waited for the sun to go down, and for the main event of the festival to start: a ball in the castle proper which Ri thought was more appropriate of the “Romantic” time period as opposed to the more medieval theme the festival was using.

They had fun playing the games – one of them was a simple ring toss, which they were fairly good at, being pokemon. Two could cheat, however, using his mind to guide the ring as it flew, which Ri wasn’t quite as good at. It was hard for him to hold the rings, too, so he had to concentrate on using aura to throw them while Two could easily use his mind to do it and Red could use his rather hand-like paw. Another game was a striking game, which supplied the player with a hammer that they used to strike the surface so the bell at the top would ring. Or, rather, Ri usually saw them with digital meters that gave them a score at the top, but this one was mechanical, like (supposedly) the ones they would have in medieval Rota.

_I kind of want to try that out,_ he said while passing by it and looking at it. Two looked to see what he was talking about and stopped walking, which Ri saw happening so he stopped beside him at the same time.

_You know you’re stronger than me – you’re not going to have a problem hitting it, but I am._

Ri looked to his mate and smiled. Two was absolutely right, but he knew Two would be interested in experimenting with it anyway, so he knew Two wouldn’t fight playing it anyway.

_I know you’re going to be interested in playing it anyway,_ he said, starting to walk over to it since he already knew how it was going. Two followed him, and Red followed behind, slightly frustrated now that he’d been pulled along.

“Here you go, you look like quite the strapping lad,” said the person manning the game, reminding Ri quite violently that these people thought they were human, making him almost react poorly to being called a ‘lad’. “If you can hit the bell, you get a prize!” he said, handing Ri a hammer. It was kind of awkward to take in his paw, but he was used enough to holding conical things (cups, pens, pencils…) that it wasn’t too bad. He stood in front of the machine, made sure he wouldn’t hit Two or Red, then held the hammer over his head and imagined the surface was an opponent and he was hitting it with his aura bone. His aura bones were weightless, the hammer was not, but once the hammer was above his head, it only helped him hit the thing harder, and the puck hit the bell sharply, ringing out and nearly hurting Ri’s ears.

“Wow, I knew you were strong, first try! You’re not a pokemon in disguise, are you?” At that, Ri, Two and Red all stared intensely at the human, making him quite uncomfortable, raising his hands in defeat. “Relax, it was just a joke,” he said awkwardly, retreating behind the counter for a moment. He stood back up holding Ri’s prize, a stuffed Lucario which wore what Ri recognized to be the ‘Aura Guardian’s’ attire.

“Here’s your prize, you certainly deserve it!” He said, handing the stuffed doll to Ri. He took it, and stared at it – an unaltered, normal Lucario – not like him.

_His eyes are bulging a little bit,_ Two said. _They aren’t looking straight at you._

Ri looked to see what Two meant, and he was right – the Lucario wasn’t exactly looking forward, but more like he was trying to look both directions at once. The eyes weren’t printed on right, either, so the Lucario wasn’t exactly well put together.

_He’s a little cheap,_ Ri said.

Two shrugged. _It seems to suggest that Lucario exists, though._

_Yeah._

Ri hadn’t even thought of that – a Lucario being associated with the Aura Guardian made it seem like there was a Lucario with sir Aaron. If that was the case… Ri was willing to think that Lucario was probably trapped just like in the movie.

_The story seems to be true, too._ Ri continued.

_That means that Lucario has been asleep for hundreds of years._

_Yeah._

Ri imagined being trapped like that for any length of time – he could barely handle choosing to be in a pokeball for the duration of Red’s flight to Galar, and that was only less than a day in total of being stuck in the ball. It made him shudder.

“Hey, are you done with my game? If so, move on so others can play, too!” the human said. Ri looked up to him, almost irritated that he’d interrupt, but he saw his reasoning, and sensed around to see that others were waiting.

_Let’s go,_ he said to Two and Red, and they went off somewhere else, saving Two the embarrassment of trying it himself.

They played a couple more games, but they also decided to eat something before the ball. There weren’t too many options in the castle – only carts of food they all knew they shouldn’t eat too much of – but they figured they could afford it once, so they shared some sweet roasted nuts, something they were familiar with because it was imported from Kanto. After that, they went to the main castle in anticipation of the ball – already many people had gathered, waiting for its doors to open. They couldn’t see the sunset, but Ri was anxious to see if Lucario was around, so he didn’t mind missing it. Among all the people, it was so bright he couldn’t even sense Lucario if he existed, so they had to wait.

Finally, the doors opened, and the people shuffled in. It felt somewhat undignified, walking in with the rest of the masses, unceremoniously, but none of them really cared. Instead, Ri was just happy that they were finally inside.

They gathered in the main hall, and Ri quickly saw that they would have enough food, but there was no way they could’ve known that _before_ they were there. There was a ton of it on a table in the back of the hall – a lot of human food, but things pokemon could easily eat too, like fruits and berries, and Ri was sure that they had somebody behind the scenes who would make sure that table didn’t empty, since Ri sensed a _lot_ of people entering the hall at the same time. It was bright all around him – he didn’t even know if he could sense a Lucario if he existed, and it made him feel confined and on edge.

_It would be nice to get out of here,_ he said, leaning into Two again to ground himself.

_It would,_ Two said. _We should be done with all this soon._ Ri sensed he wanted to pull Ri close, but it didn’t seem appropriate in the crowd. _We can be together more once we’re alone._

_I understand,_ Ri said, making himself stand back up straight. Everybody thought they were people, and as far as they understood people didn’t normally act that way, at least out in public, while they had stopped caring in Galar what others (other than Red) thought of them when they did that. They just waited together, a couple minutes for the Lady to come. Ri figured she was taking her time just so it _seemed_ regal and important; it felt just like a waste of time to Ri, since everybody was just waiting. But finally, she came out, along with some staff and also the smug champion of the tournament and this year’s Aura Guardian. Ri hated the calmly superior look on his face, and Two needed to step in again to make sure he didn’t do something he regretted. He calmed back down, and listened to the Lady’s (Evelyn) speech.

“I welcome you all to this joyous occasion,” she started. “It is a pleasure to have you all here. More than a thousand years ago, in a time fraught with war and discord, the first Guardian of the Aura, Sir Aaron, sacrificed himself so that peace would prevail and our kingdom would be safe. Thanks to him, we have enjoyed long-lasting peace in Rota; it is certainly a cause to celebrate as we have yearly as long as we Rotans can remember.

Our own Guardian of the Aura, valiantly tested and proven in a trial of fire, will now take the Guardian’s staff and signal for the celebration to begin!”

At least it wasn’t a long speech. She gestured to the staff the champion had to take; it was on the wall by a mural of Sir Aaron. Now that Ri saw it, it was clear that it had somebody inside of it. Only people and pokemon emitted their own aura, which lit up everything else, but the gem at the top of the staff was brightly lit, too. He didn’t see it before because he wasn’t looking because he expected Lucario to be hard to find among all the other brightly lit people and pokemon.

_He’s in the staff, Two!_

_Really!?_ Two asked, honestly surprised that Lucario seemed to exist even despite all the evidence they had found.

Ri was watching, and he saw the human champion walk over to it to take it. Ri sensed he wasn’t going to care for it – he was going to whack it around like a plaything with no regard for the life it held in it. Alarmed, Ri shoved the people in front of him out of the way using his aura and used the commotion to charge up before the human had done anything with the staff.

_Wait!_ Ri said, grabbing it and trying to pry it away from the human. _You think this is a plaything; there’s a Lucario in there, so have some respect!_ He yelled, upset. There was general commotion all around him, but he could sense that the Lady was calling for guards. He needed the staff before the guards got to him, so he pulled harder, but the stubborn human wouldn’t let go, forcing Ri into a standoff both with him and the guards who were now surrounding him. He revealed himself, thinking that would cause a greater confusion and allow him a bit more time to get the staff. When the commotion died down instead, it left _him_ confused. He looked around, and found everyone kneeling to him. It made him feel sick, sick because he didn’t deserve it and overwhelmed because he realized _everyone_ was paying attention to him now. He felt himself threatening to shut down.

_Two?_

Two revealed himself and flew to Ri’s side, and hugged him.

“Release him at once!” one of the guards said, still wanting to protect the Lady like he was employed to do.

_Try and separate me from my mate, I’ll make protecting the Lady the least of your problems._

Two stared at the guard – since Galar, he was a little more used to dealing with people who thought they had authority over him – but it wasn’t him who made him stand down.

“Stand down, royal guard. This Lucario isn’t a threat to us. He has come back to us after spending over a thousand years in stasis. He must be confused; I’ll bring him and the Mewtwo somewhere they won’t be a bother to anyone anymore.”

_He’s not that Lucario!_ Two yelled, upset that anybody would mistake his Ri for somebody from another millennium, pulling him closer to reassure Ri.

“Please come with me, we can discuss Lucario’s magnificent return alone so that we don’t risk further interruptions to the celebration,” the Lady said almost earnestly. Two, confused, took a moment to think things over. He realized that the Lady was trying to _help,_ which he didn’t see before because he was in ‘protect’ mode, and he wasn’t analyzing much. He understood the subtext this time, so he calmed down a bit and hugged Ri less hard.

_She wants to get us out of here; I’m going to follow her._

Ri understood, so he released Ri and watched for the Lady to lead them away.

_Come with us,_ Two said to Red, so Red clearly knew what to do. He sensed everyone be surprised again, so he assumed Red revealed himself, too, while he brought Ri somewhere private with the Lady so they could deal with this aftermath.

#  \--––—Chapter 2—––--

They walked to somewhere else in the castle. Ri realized he was holding the staff – somehow he’d gotten it when he revealed himself. Walking away from the scene, calming down, he could see a little more clearly.

_I’m sorry, I acted over-the-top,_ he said.

_I understand, it just wasn’t the best circumstance._

Several things had happened all at once to push Ri beyond reason: too many people, the realization of Lucario _existing,_ and one _person_ in particular who was too much for him. Now he had Lucario, so everything else felt resolved.

The lady took them into a room, finally, a smaller one with seats. Ri wondered what it was used for, since it didn’t have much else. There was enough room for them all to sit together on one side, so they did so, and the Lady stood in front of them, trying to remain graceful, but Ri could sense she was about to lose it.

“I’m the Lady Evelyn. First, I want to convey my gratitude for our land to be graced once again by Lucario.” She bowed lightly – it threatened to make Ri sick again.

_No, don’t bow for us._

“Just – of all the ways you could have revealed yourselves, why create such a spectacle as that?”

Ri knew Two didn’t like to talk – he forced himself to speak to spare Two it, and so he didn’t have to rely on Red to explain something he didn’t completely understand himself.

_We weren’t going to,_ Ri said, subdued, trying to hold back the irritation he still felt. _We disguised ourselves specifically so there wouldn’t be any commotion. We were just visiting, because we heard of this place, but when I saw the staff, I knew it had a Lucario in it._

“I did you a favor; why shouldn’t I have you taken away by security right now and imprisoned for disturbing our celebration and threatening me?”

Two glared at her again; Ri looked to see how upset _he_ was about this all.

_We’re thankful you helped us out of it. But don’t threaten us,_ he said. _We don’t take well to it, and we will protect ourselves._

“That isn’t the way to treat the person who saved you from being jailed?”

_We could’ve saved ourselves!_

“By attacking and ruining everything!?”

_No, by running away!_ Ri yelled, too harshly. Evelyn stood aback, shocked by the suggestion. It made Ri realize he was going too far again, and he tried to calm himself down.

_We’re doing you a favor too by staying here instead of leaving with the staff with Lucario. You have to work with us much as we have to work with you, so it would be more productive to drop pretense and start again. I’m not the Lucario you thought I was at first, and obviously I’m not the sort of Lucario you think I should be. Forget who you think Lucario is or should be, and accept that I am different. After that, maybe we can actually talk about something._

_Drop the fake honor you gave us before, and respect us as actual individuals who can make our own decisions and do them!_

Evelyn took a moment to recollect herself. When she started talking again, Ri hoped she’d be a bit more sensible.

“Alright, then. If you aren’t Sir Aaron’s Lucario, who are you?”

_Ri. Two is my mate. We live in Kanto._

“In Kanto!? When did Kanto have Lucario!?”

_They don’t, I’m the only one._

“Oh…” she said, confused.

_I’m not from Kanto,_ Ri explained, feeling like he shouldn’t’ve had to.

Ri just wanted to withdraw; it was too much for him to deal with Evelyn at the moment. He just wanted to recede and deal with Lucario, but Two needed him to deal with this, so he tried to stick it out.

“Alright, whatever, but you think there’s a Lucario in this staff?” Evelyn tried touching it, but Ri pulled it away from her, surprising her and causing her to lose focus. In that moment, Ri realized that she had dropped _every_ pretense; she was acting normally, now, so he hoped she’d be easier to work with.

_I can sense him; I know he’s here._

“Sir Aaron’s Lucario disappeared from the legend when Sir Aaron’s sacrifice is mentioned. We had assumed that Lucario ran when Sir Aaron disappeared or even earlier.”

_Lucario are some of the most loyal pokemon out there!_ Ri yelled, deeply upset that anybody would just assume that about his species.

“We don’t know what happened to it, and a loyal pokemon returns to its master. It’s loyalties lied utmost with Lady Rin; it did not return. It abandoned us when Sir Aaron went to save us all.

Ri could understand now why Evelyn had interrupted the whole celebration to remove him from the hall, there was no way she would tarnish their own glorified people by the chance that Sirr Aaron had mistreated Lucario. Lucario _had_ to be the bad guy, because pride said Sir Aaron couldn’t be. Ri stood up now, angry, frustrated, and betrayed by Evelyn.

_A loyal pokemon isn’t rewarded by being imprisoned for greater than a millennium! What I’m trying to say is that Lucario couldn’t come back because he was stuck in that staff!_

“That’s ridiculous, how could that staff hold _any_ pokemon?”

_I don’t know! I can sense – there is a Lucario in that staff!_

_Ri…_

Ri could barely hear Two this time. He looked to his mate, and saw how concerned he looked – he needed to calm down. Two broke through – he always broke through – but he almost _didn’t_ this time, and that was enough to make Ri worried. He sat back down by Two, agitated, and Red got up to try and help.

“Evelyn, you’re not being fair to Ri! Don’t tell a Lucario who Lucario are; don’t tell a Lucario what they can and can’t sense. It doesn’t matter _how_ Lucario is in the staff, what matters is that he _is_ in the staff.”

Ri was sitting by the staff again, and trying to calm down, he focused mostly on it, letting the conversation around him pass by. Opening up his aura to the staff, he sensed it respond to him. The presence inside seemed agitated himself – Ri couldn’t blame him at all for it.

_Sir Aaron, is that you? Why have you left me here!?_

_No,_ Ri tried saying. _I’m not Aaron. If you can, you need to come out._

_Not Sir Aaron? How can this be?_

_You need to see for yourself. Can I release you?_

_Release me!_

Ri thought the Lucario thought he was asking for permission; he wasn’t, Ri didn’t know if he could physically cause Lucario to be released. He took the staff anyway, and, focusing on it, held it out in front of him. Lucario appeared from the staff a bit like how a pokemon is released from a poke ball. Weak, he collapsed immediately onto the ground, and Ri threw away the staff and got off the couch to kneel by Lucario. Two came down quickly, too, and eventually Red and Evelyn realized something _else_ was happening and came too.

_Lucario?_ Ri asked.

_I cannot –_

Lucario was obviously exhausted. He hadn’t had a physical form in over 1000 years; he needed rest.

_Rest, Lucario. You’re free now, and safe. Two, Red, and I won’t let anything happen to you._

Lucario gave up, and allowed himself to sleep. Ri looked up to Evelyn now.

_We need somewhere to stay._

“We –” Evelyn wasn’t sure what to think of it all. “Have a room for you.”

Ri glanced at Red – he wasn’t sure how thrilled Red was about having to stay with them in the same room. Red nodded, so he guessed it was OK for a little while.

_That’s fine,_ he said back to Evelyn.

Evelyn stood up, and flattened herself out, and tried to reassume her ‘stately’ demeanor. It didn’t suit her, Ri thought – there was no point, he believed, in pretending to be something somebody wasn’t. He cared very much about his identity, so he considered that could make him care very much about being authentic, He worried when he wasn’t, because he remembered being XD002 and having everything that was authentic to him taken.

“Follow me,” she said, leaving the room. Red picked Lucario up, and they followed her through the castle to a completely different part of it. She took them around, avoiding people, despite the moment she took to appear calm, Ri thought because of the consequences Lucario’s life had regarding Sir Aaron. It was obvious now, however despicable Ri thought it was. He had to let it go for the moment, though, to take care of Lucario. She led them to a room, and left them alone, which Ri was grateful for. Red laid Lucario down on one of the couches inside, and Ri, Two, and Red sat around silently for fear of waking him up – which was somewhat crazy, Ri thought, since talking with their minds, it was hard for Ri or Two to wake anyone up.

#  \--––—Chapter 3—––--

Waiting for Lucario to wake up, Ri found it hard to keep his eyes off of him. This Lucario was more than a thousand years old – he might not feel like it, but he was. He was from a different time – a time when the relationship between people and pokemon was totally different. There weren’t ‘trainers’ in the sense there were in Ri’s time, so it was fascinating to Ri to wonder how people actually thought about pokemon in Lucario’s time. It was almost out of respect he stayed silent, too, and sympathy; Lucario was out of place, and all he knew was that he was betrayed, and he had no idea Sir Aaron was gone for so long already.

They forced themselves to stay awake for him, so he didn’t disappear on them, but eventually they needed to take turns sleeping. Two could stay up himself – because of his type advantage – but even though Red had been training with Ri to overcome his type disadvantage, Ri stayed up with Red for a while to let Two sleep, too. During one of his and Red’s shifts, regretting not being able to have Two awake to be with him, he sensed Lucario stirring.

_Two, Red, he’s waking,_ he said, nudging Two awake since his voice wasn’t able to wake him alone. They watched Lucario, waiting for him to finally wake.

_Sir Aaron!_ Lucario said, surprising Ri and Two and Red. He leaned up quickly, looking around confused and disoriented. Ri was surprised by Lucario’s voice; it was deep and husky, while his was much more… average.

_Sir Aaron isn’t here,_ Ri said, trying to calm Lucario down. Lucario looked around again, this time recognizing things slightly more.

_Where is he? I have to find him!_

_He’s – dead, Lucario._

_Dead!? So soon after betraying me like that?_

It _wasn’t_ soon; that was something Ri would have to let him know _gently._ For now, all Lucario needed was to accept that Sir Aaron wasn’t around anymore.

_He saved your kingdom, according to what we’ve heard._

_Who are you – are you the enemy?_ He asked, remembering whatever war it was Sir Aaron had tried to stop.

_No, we’re here to help._

Lucario looked at them, unsure. He didn’t know what to think of them at all; it felt weird to him being greeted by other pokemon.

_You are a Lucario, too?_ He asked, finally looking at Ri properly.

_Yeah,_ Ri said.

_Are you an unruly servant to the queen?_ He asked, looking at Ri’s chest and paws where he expected Ri’s spikes to be.

_I’m a free Lucario!_ Ri said. _My spikes were taken from me by force!_

_You were not always free; free pokemon do not have numbers and letters stamped into their fur. Did my lady rescue you?_

_My mate rescued me, but stop reading into my past, it isn’t polite._

Lucario looked to Two, finished enough with Ri. He took a moment to sense, but suddenly attacked, charging up an aura sphere.

_You – get out of my sight! I will defend my Lady from pokemon like you!_

Ri jumped in front of Two to protect him. It was kind of dumb, but he wouldn’t’ve done it if he didn’t have a specific reason to, since Two was easily strong enough to handle him himself.

_Wait, take a moment to sense him! Two has my aura, I vouch for him with my aura bond and as his mate!_

Lucario took a moment to sense; Ri sensed it didn’t seem so natural to him as it did to Ri.

He _is the one who saved you?_

Ri nodded, and Lucario kept sensing.

_I see that your auras are shared between you. What does it mean? I’ve never seen anything like it before._

_I took some of my aura, and replaced some of Two’s with it. I used the aura that I took from Two to replace the aura I had lost._

_I almost sense you together as one entity._

Ri nodded. _That’s what happens._

… _If you would go so far as to integrate this pokemon into your very identity, either you are both evil pokemon or he is not._

Ri had honestly done it by mistake, but it still was the case; he’d do it again knowingly if he hadn’t already. He wasn’t too sure about Lucario’s conclusion, though; he’d much rather Lucario believe them both to be good.

Lucario spent another moment to sense, looking intently at Ri to try to see what sort of pokemon he was, then shook his head.

_No, one does not do something like this when they are an evil pokemon. I trust you, Lucario. By extension, I trust your mate._

Lucario had no problem with the concept of their mateship – it helped Ri to think that that was something that could be considered common among pokemon – at least Lucario.

_You aren’t natural,_ Lucario continued, looking now at Two.

Two was shocked, Ri could sense – how obvious to Lucario was it that Two was man-made? Ri turned around and hugged him quickly, trying to reassure him. Two returned it, understanding well enough how Ri felt about it.

_You care for each other like this?_ Lucario asked, looking on at them.

_We’re mates – what do you think that means?_ Ri asked in return.

_I apologize, I understand how close mates can be._

Ri wanted to trust Lucario – he felt he could understand how harried and confused Lucario must feel after being asleep for so long. He tried letting go of the things that had bothered him at first – anyway, Lucario seemed to be much easier to get along with already, now that he was more willing to trust them.

_Your mate isn’t natural, though, Lucario._

_Please don’t say that – he’s insecure enough about it as it is. Yes, he was made by humans, but he isn’t defined by that, and he’s as much a real pokemon as any other._

_Have you anything to say about it?_ Lucario asked Two, somewhat challenging him since Ri had spoken for him the entire time.

Ri caught Two looking at him this time – he wasn’t sure whether he should bother saying anything or not. Ri shrugged, since he didn’t really mind continuing to speak for Two, but he also didn’t mind if Two spoke for himself, too. Two was more unsure how far Ri was going to trust Lucario now, so that was actually more what it was about.

_It means a lot to me that Ri thinks so highly of me, but I don’t usually speak to strangers without reason. A lot of people don’t know I can talk._

_Ri?_ Lucario asked, confused.

_My mate._

Lucario looked to Ri in recognition, then prompted him for Two’s name.

_Two,_ Ri said. _Short for “Mewtwo”._

_Mew – two?_ Lucario asked, scrunching his forehead, seemingly familiar with the concept of Mew.

_I was cloned from Mew._

_But you are not like Mew._

_I was – modified,_ Two said.

_I can sense you are a very strong pokemon._

_I was designed to be._

_Most of us aren’t so lucky to have power handed to us._

Ri and Two both were appalled; most of the difficulties they had in life were _because_ they were powerful. Ri felt lucky to be able to protect himself and Two, but _still_ sometimes he couldn’t, and people went after them _for_ their power.

_You don’t understand what it was like. The humans thought I was theirs, and treated me like I was. It wasn’t until I met Ri that I realized I could be more than that._

_You’re free now, and it seems it was by your own power you escaped._

Two still wasn’t too happy now. Yes, Two had escaped, but he needed to escape because people were keeping him in a tube instead of letting him be free. All ultimately because they were scared of him – a problem directly caused by his power.

_Lucario – we understand. We’re sorry you were trapped in the staff and that you couldn’t get out yourself. Just – your problems don’t end when you get to be very powerful. They just become bigger problems._

Lucario stepped back, shocked by the revelation. He bowed slightly again, making Ri wonder how much he felt trusting as much as indebted to them. He left them alone after that, though, and looked to Red instead, sensing him over, too, before Ri could mention that he didn’t like being sensed.

_You weren’t always a pokemon,_ he said, far too uncannily perceptive for Ri’s tastes, even though he still felt that sensing seemed awkward to Lucario. _But what sort of pokemon are you? If Two was recently man-made, it makes sense that I haven’t seen his kind before, but you should be familiar to me._

“Don’t sense me,” Red said in return, irritated. Lucario looked to Ri confused – he didn’t know Two could sense, too.

_Not every pokemon likes being sensed. Everybody deserves the privacy of their own minds, so pokemon who sense should try to keep out or at the very least be sensitive about who – and what – they sense._

Lucario bowed again. _I apologize for the intrusion._

“It’s – OK, I guess.”

_But I would still like to know who you are,_ Lucario said.

“I’m a Zoroark, there aren’t any native Zoroark here. They come from across the sea.”

_You do not come from across the sea, though?”_

“ _Yes,_ I was human. I come from a place down south.”

_So you_ are _with the army!?_ Lucario said, stepping back defensively, leaving Red confused, wondering what he did.

_Wait, we’re not a part of any army,_ Ri said, very carefully. _We’re at your castle, the Lady gave us this room to help you recover from being inside the staff._

_Where is Sir Aaron? He should be here to help protect the kingdom!_ Lucario started looking around rather wildly again – Ri figured Red had accidentally triggered a lapse of PTSD or something similar. He wanted to calm Lucario down – but he wasn’t being sensible at the moment, so there wasn’t much Ri could do. Otherwise – Ri thought he’d said Aaron was dead already? He looked to Two to be sure, and Two nodded to him, telling him he wasn’t crazy.

_He – died, Lucario. He saved your kingdom according to what we heard._

_That’s not true! He ran away! He betrayed us! The armies are still marching –_

Lucario ran off; he moved too quickly even for Ri and Two to catch him. It didn’t seem like he’d respond, so all they did then was follow after him, and let him figure out for himself that everything was different. They followed him all the way out of the castle, so luckily it was late at night and much fewer people were around. They followed him all the way through the forest to the place Ri assumed Sir Aaron had imprisoned him. He looked around confused, and then stood in place and sensed around him, then gave up a couple moments later, and returned to looking around, finally noticing that Ri, Two, and Red had followed him.

_Where? Where are the armies? Where is the fighting?_

_The war ended,_ Ri said. _It – ended a long time ago._ Ri figured it was a good time now to tell Lucario that.

_How long ago? How long was I imprisoned!?_

Ri felt bad – it was hard for him to say.

_More than a thousand years,_ Two said for him, making Lucario almost jump because he expected Ri to say it.

_A thousand years? Impossible!_

He ran off again, back to the castle. Ri sighed, but he understood. He remembered waking up after Two saved him from Cipher, and he doubted _everything_ for a long time after that, even with Two to reassure him every step of the way. Lucario didn’t have anyone like that, and for all he knew the only person he _did_ trust abandoned him and his kingdom to ruin because he was selfish and scared – and he was long dead, anyway. They followed him again, hoping that he wouldn’t cause too much of a commotion.

They ended up following him throughout much of the castle, before stopping for a while in the place Ri assumed was his room. It wasn’t a room anymore, but a sort of museum of artifacts pertaining to him and Sir Aaron. Lucario was looking around at the exhibit, wondering why it was all different and why these things were preserved the way they were now, under glass and lights and things he didn’t understand. He focused on one thing in particular, and when Ri felt he was going to be relatively calm, he and Two went up beside him to look at it too. It was one of Sir Aaron’s brooches, Ri read; it was blue like aura and made Ri think of Lucario’s loyalty for him – at least until he forced him to be in the staff.

_What is this doing here, old and rusty? What is this clear crystal which keeps me from touching it, and how is this pedestal so brightly lit inside? Why are all of these things preserved in the room Sir Aaron and I shared?_

_How long has it been?_ He continued, nearly broken now.

_It’s been a long time, Lucario. You have nearly faded into legend; people almost forgot about you. I sensed you in the staff, so I was able to release you._

It took Lucario a moment to process, but Ri sensed that he was about to cry out.

_Aaron -- how could you! How could you do this to your loyal servant! You were my master – I – trusted you!_

Lucario was angry, but he was also in anguish, confused, and scared. Ri somewhat understood. Lucario started crying out violently, leaning against the glass which made Ri worry about any security features it might’ve had, but a quick hack into the system disabled anything which might’ve happened. Instead, he wanted to comfort Lucario, but he wasn’t sure how much was appropriate – like with a Mewtwo on another universe, he didn’t want to overstep his mateship with Two to help someone else. Instead, they stood with Lucario, trying to let him work it out himself, hoping that being _with_ him would help.

Hours later – almost toward morning now – he sighed and relaxed, finally. Ri, Two, and Red all had to fight sleep again, but it became easier as Ri’s worrying increased, especially over others noticing them, if they weren’t supposed to be in there. Lucario turned around, and recognized Ri, Two, and Red a bit more clearly now.

_Thank you for staying with me,_ he said.

_No problem,_ Ri said. _We’re sorry that you went through all that,_ he continued. _It was wrong of Sir Aaron to do this to you._

Ri didn’t really care if Aaron meant to protect Lucario, or whether he meant to run away or try to save the kingdom, he didn’t think it was right to abandon Lucario and imprison him against his will.

_Humans are undeserving of trust. They do not care for us pokemon._

Ri glanced at Two – in fact, they glanced at each other, knowingly. Two had come to that conclusion, too, after being used by Giovanni. Also, Ri wondered where that put Red with Lucario. Ri trusted Red enough as a human to help him turn into a pokemon, but all Lucario knew was that Red was, at one point, human.

They knew Lucario was wrong – but neither of them could blame him for coming to that conclusion. They had, too, after they had been abused themselves. They needed to, at first, because they had to protect themselves from further harm and abuse. They just hoped that Lucario would figure it out before trying to commit mass murder like some Mewtwo tried doing. And Ri was in the same place, actually – it was only recently that he’d found Hop and Liz, and they were two children, as opposed to the billions of other people in the word which Ri couldn’t bring himself to trust.

Lucario smashed the glass under his paw in anger, using what seemed to be a primitive Force Palm to do it, reminding Ri of how he used his aura to perform that move. Distracted, neither Ri nor Two caught him doing it, and though Ri had stopped the security measures, nobody could stop others from hearing the glass shattering, so moments later people were shuffling in, wondering what had happened. Lucario tensed up, and Ri and Two both stepped forward to protect him when they turned around to see the people. Two (different) guards came toward them, guarded since they figured they were going to be attacked.

“What are you doing here? No pokemon in the castle except in the Great Hall for celebrations! Where are your trainers!?”

_This stuff is more Lucario’s than it is yours!_ Ri said, unhelpfully. _You have no right to tell us where and where not to be – any human could break this glass too if they wanted, and pokemon are equally able to restrain themselves._

“I don’t care if you talk or not, you aren’t supposed to be here!” one of the guards, said, lunging at Ri. Ri was about to hold out his paw to perform Force Palm on the guard if he got too close, but he sensed someone else coming to help, and withheld himself, pushing himself aside with aura instead.

“Wait!” that someone yelled out, out of breath and rather undignified. She took a moment to settle herself down, which she could do since everyone had stopped to pay attention to her.

“These pokemon are my guests, they are allowed anywhere in the castle they want.”

“You know the proper channels, my Lady –”

_Lady?_

Lucario knelt down where he was standing, put his paw under his chest spike, and lowered his head in allegiance to her. Unhappily – Ri sensed – but Lucario was loyal to the _kingdom_ more than Evelyn; Evelyn just happened to be the ruler.

“Lucario, not now,” she said. “We will talk later.”

Somewhat burned, Lucario stood annoyed. Ri wasn’t sure he would show her that again.

_My allegiance is meaningful to me; a human should at least respect that I offer it to them,_ he said, but Evelyn didn’t seem to hear. Ri couldn’t really disagree with him.

Evelyn turned again to the guards, answering to whatever the guard was trying to say before.

“This is my castle, and I can do whatever I want in it, including firing you. We don’t mistreat pokemon in this castle, so if you continue this way, there is no place for either of you here.”

“They broke the glass protecting the exhibits!” complained one of the guards, feeling like he was being treated unfairly.

“This Lucario has a greater claim to these things than we do, we should remove all the glass so it can touch them and see them closer,” Evelyn responded.

It really bothered Ri that Evelyn was calling Lucario an ‘it,’ but for some reason he didn’t sense it from Lucario. It felt important to him, so he wanted to voice it anyway.

_We’re not “it’s”, Evelyn._ She looked to him, confused and conflicted, registering what he had said.

“You could choose a better time to discuss this, Ri! Next time, do not destroy somebody else’s property, and maybe it would be easier to consider you able to control yourselves like people can!’

Ri, burned himself, felt himself close up instantly. He didn’t care anymore – he needed to get out of there. Two sensed it happen, so he teleported them all away – to the room Evelyn had lent them to watch over Lucario.

#  \--––—Chapter 4—––--

_What was that?_ Lucario asked, looking around at how everything was different.

_I’m sorry, I teleported us away because Ri needed to leave. We’re in the room you woke up in; it’s the one Evelyn gave us to look after you,_ Two said. After that, he let Ri do the venting he needed to do. Ri was angry, but instead he started crying. Two sat down, and Ri quickly sat down next to him and curled up into his side, trying to keep himself from shaking and falling apart. Lucario himself took a moment to process everything that had just happened.

_Humans… Aaron, why did you do this to me!?_ Lucario said, sitting down where he was, crying himself, feeling alone and abandoned and totally confused. Two looked between the two Lucario – he had no idea how to deal with both of them. He settled on Red.

_I’m sorry, I need you to deal with Lucario._

“I understand,” Red said, softly. He went to Lucario’s side, allowing Two to focus on Ri. Two hugged him close, and prepared to weather the day with him if he had to. Ri had been doing well – but there was nothing they could do about something like this. Being brave enough to go out in public, they risked something like this happening, and Ri couldn’t be ready to deal with it if it did, however much he was prepared to brave talking to humans.

Evelyn’s disrespect – whether she meant it or not – pushed Ri right back into the abuse Cipher had put him through. The feeling of worthlessness they forced him to feel, the way they forced him to give up ownership of himself to them, the way they controlled him after that – Ri wasn’t an ‘it.’ XD002 was an ‘it,’ and Ri remembered every moment of being that. Ri owned himself, and deserved to, like any human – no human had any right to dehumanize him just because he wasn’t _human_. But Evelyn calling him an ‘it’ was just like Cipher abusing him, so it brought it all back to him, forced him to relive it and nearly forget _everything_ that Two had taught him since Cipher. It left him defenseless, and defenseless, he easily questioned everything and wondered how much he deserved anything Two had offered him since Cipher.

Two reassured him by hugging him close – showing him he cared – while Red tried dealing with Lucario. Lucario’s situation was similar, but not. Lucario was angry at Aaron for forcing him into the staff, and also for abandoning him and, as he assumed, the kingdom, too. He was shocked by the change of time, and ripped from the place he belonged. He didn’t recognize anything or anyone, and all the people he’d seen so far treated him, Ri, Two, and Red wrongly. Red just sat next to him, less willing to hug and comfort him than Two was for Ri, but Two sensed that Red’s presence helped, at least when he felt like he could stop worrying so much about Ri anymore.

A true testament to Ri’s strength, he had calmed down much after only a couple hours. Two sensed him returning to him, so he prepared to be more interactive. Ri had worked through all the stages of his recovery so far on a micro scale, but he still wasn’t in the same place he was when they left home. This time, it was fairly hands-off for Two; Ri had managed to remind himself of everything that Two had told him. Two was happy to see that he was able to help Ri be much stronger – watching him reaffirm everything in his mind reassured him that he was able to help him.

Still curled up in his side, Ri finally spoke for the first time since talking to Evelyn.

_I’m so sorry._ He said, feeling like a burden to his mate. He wanted to stop doing that – he felt like a failure, and disappointed in himself and angry for allowing himself to be put in that position _again._

Two looked at Ri properly – a ball of purple and orange fluff hiding under his arm. He was curled up tight and he had his tail over his foot paws – something Two assumed he learned from him, since Two didn’t remember many other dogs doing that. It helped him feel warm, which Two sensed helped Ri feel safe – Two would’ve laid over him if it helped, but Ri could also feel confined, too – even if it were Two doing it and _especially_ during a time like this. Ri’s head was in Two’s side, but also tucked into his chest on top of his legs, which he’d pulled up as close to him as possible. He was making himself small – surely as small as he felt – so he felt like less of a threat and less of a target. Two felt bad for him – sympathy, empathy, all of it. He understood, more now after his own experience with Gahleem. Two wanted to help him feel OK again.

_Ri – you don’t have to be sorry. I promised to care for you. I’m not going to stop just because we didn’t expect this to happen to you when we mated._

Ri started crying again, but it was a different sort of crying. He was recognizing the love Two had for him and appreciating it – that was much better than what was happening before. Within 10 minutes, he was feeling better. He sat up, uncurling himself, but he stayed in Two’s side, not ready to be alone yet. He opened himself to the world around him, finally realizing that Lucario was having his own trouble, too.

_Did I –_

_I don’t think Lucario was paying attention enough to know you were having problems, too,_ Two said, softly and kindly.

_Good,_ Ri answered. _I don’t want to be the reason he feels this way._

_You aren’t,_ Two reassured him. _He’s still dealing with Aaron._

_It wasn’t right for Aaron to do that to him,_ Ri said.

Two shook his head. Ri didn’t see it, but he sensed it, so he understood.

Two was happy Ri was able to recognize that – he sensed that some pokemon wouldn’t be able to care for somebody else like that after going through something like Ri just did. Ri cared – that was something special about him that Two was happy Cipher ultimately didn’t take from him. Two hoped that his relief helped Ri feel better.

_Thank you for worrying about me,_ Ri said, recognizing how Two felt during the whole time he couldn’t bother to respond.

_You don’t have to thank me – I’m happy you’re feeling better._

_I am, too._

Ri decompressed a bit, stretching himself out since he’d been curled up so long. He moved himself a little bit, recognizing that some parts of him were stiff after being so forcefully pulled in for so long. He relaxed, settling into his new status quo, which was more fragile than it had been, or at least more obviously fragile.

They continued sitting together, but now they were just waiting for Lucario to feel better. Red was still sitting with him – Ri was surprised that Red had bothered to care for Lucario even this much. He didn’t blame him for not being closer – Two could do that for Ri because they were mates, but Lucario didn’t seem to want Red closer since his presence, and now theirs, was enough. They just sat, until Lucario finally fell asleep late at night, even for Ri and Two. It made sense his sleep schedule would be ruined after 1000 years of sleeping, but Ri would’ve liked to sleep at a somewhat normal time, especially after staying up to watch over Lucario the night before. Once he was asleep, Red stood up, signalling that everything was over for the night.

_Thank you for staying with him and letting me have Two,_ Ri said.

Red shook his head – Ri felt the feelings creep on him again, but he trusted Red enough after a few years to understand he didn’t mean it badly – it was a bit like how Two had said explicitly that he didn’t need to be thankful. It wouldn’t’ve bothered him before the day happened, but now things were different, so it did.

“You needed Two, and Lucario needed someone. It’s good I was here to help.”

Ri couldn’t argue. He looked to Lucario instead, finally sleeping on his side on the floor. He wondered if Lucario would try to go away in the morning, but he hoped he could trust him not to, especially if he was still as against humans as he felt earlier that day.

_We should sleep,_ he said, feeling exhaustion make him sluggish and unresponsive.

_Yeah,_ Two said.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Red said quietly.

There weren’t beds – they didn’t notice that before. Red wasn’t too happy about it, but they all ended up sleeping next to each other on the floor, since there was just enough room for them all. They resolved to find themselves a proper room in the morning, given they could avoid guards and especially Evelyn.

In the morning, everything seemed marginally better. Ri felt somewhat OK – that was a relief to him after feeling terrible the whole day before. He realized pretty quickly he was hungry – they hadn’t eaten all day the day before, but he couldn’t think about it after Evelyn, and when he was feeling better they were too exhausted to eat. Lucario was still there, asleep; Ri was happy he didn’t disappear. He waited for Two to wake up, which he was lucky he didn’t have to wait long for this time.

_Good morning,_ Two said just a little while later.

_Good morning,_ Ri said back.

_I miss our bed,_ Two replied, stretching in his place and wincing since various parts of him were hurting. _I don’t understand how the Mewtwo on Huey’s world like sleeping like this._

Ri stretched himself out too, feeling a lot of the same pains as Two was.

_Maybe you get used to it?_ he suggested.

_I’d much rather be used to our bed._

_Me too._ Ri laughed a bit, amused.

They got up, feeling quite a bit better after being able to rest, even if they were uncomfortable on the floor and hungry. Ri looked around the room, wondering how Evelyn could’ve given them a room without beds. It brought up things he didn’t want to think about or feel anymore, so he dropped the thought, and instead settled on looking for a proper room when everyone else woke up.

They sat back on the couch they were sitting on before, and waited for Red and Lucario to wake. It wasn’t too long, since they all fell asleep around the same time, so it wasn’t too hard for them to wait. Lucario woke up first, stretching and standing up and turning around to see Ri and Two already awake.

_You have stayed with me even now, after I was so angry and upset yesterday. I am truly grateful to you._

_Last night, I wasn’t in a great place myself. We understand you, and we don’t want to leave you to deal with all of this on your own._

_Red – the human – he stayed with me too. I do not know what to think of him._

_He isn’t human to me, not anymore. He’s a pokemon like us. Don’t let his past as a human keep you from relating to him, because he gave it all up to be able to relate to pokemon better._

_Aaron abandoned me when I needed help. He hasn’t._

_We are here, too,_ Ri said. _As much as we are able to be._

Lucario nodded.

_I do not know what this world is like. I do not know how to navigate it without Aaron._

Ri sensed Lucario feel sick – he _wanted_ to navigate it without Aaron now, so he regretted feeling like he couldn’t do it without him. Lucario shook his head.

_I don’t need Aaron._

Ri agreed – he didn’t – but he needed _someone_ to help him. Of anyone, Ri, Two, and Red were the most able to get to him now that they had stayed with him all night and also shown him their own insecurities.

Red woke up soon after to Ri, Two, and Lucario sitting around him and waiting.

“We need private rooms,” he said, standing up and stretching like Ri and Two had. Apparently, Red felt the same way Ri and Two did about the floor.

_Ones with beds,_ Ri continued.

_They let you sleep on beds?_ Lucario asked.

Ri glanced at Two, confused, then looked to Lucario.

_They didn’t let you?_

_Pokemon of my time were never considered important enough to be given beds. I was – lucky – to be alone with Aaron, but like the others I never had a bed to sleep on._

_It’s – not too different today,_ Ri admitted. _Actually – trainers keep pokemon in balls which miniaturize us so we are portable. It’s a lot like how Aaron trapped you in the staff._

Ri sensed Lucario was disturbed by that news. Other pokemon weren’t necessarily trapped in their poke balls, at least, but still, it sometimes disturbed Ri, Two, and Red to think about, too. Especially Red, when he thought of doing that to all his pokemon before he was a pokemon himself.

_Then my question still stands. They let you sleep on beds? And where are your – balls?_

_We said before – we’re free. We don’t have trainers, nobody controls us._

_Free?_ Lucario asked, both confused and disbelieving.

_We’re… wild, if you really want to think of it that way, but we live among people pretty easily because we can talk to them like you can._

_I am a free Lucario now, too, I refuse to pledge my allegiance to humans who will punish me for it._

Lucario’s sudden detachment from the kingdom as a whole was a bit worrying to Ri, since Lucario were _known_ to be incredibly loyal, but Ri considered how quickly he had flipped on Evelyn, and how much fresher and harder everything was now on Lucario. Frankly, Ri thought it was more important to support Lucario’s sense of free will to do as he pleased than it was to try and temper his ire.

_If you need, we will help defend your freedom,_ he said, feeling that it communicated what he, Two, and Red would do.

Lucario bowed his head again in thanks.

_Don’t feel indebted to us – we didn’t free you so that you would feel like you had to pay us back for anything._

_All the same, you have my thanks._

The conversation settled down a bit, but soon, Lucario continued it.

_Is a bed comfortable?_ He asked. Ri could almost sense he was excited – surely there were things he wanted that nobody let him have as a servant. He accepted it because he accepted his place, but he didn’t anymore, and Ri, Two, and Red enabled him to demand for more – to believe that he deserved more. It felt like a personal victory for Ri – he didn’t want any pokemon to feel like they had to submit to a human.

_It depends on the bed,_ Ri said, unhelpfully. _If we slept on the beds Aaron thought were comfortable, we’d be uncomfortable, but it’d be better than sleeping on the floor. The beds we find comfortable could be considered beyond luxurious in the time you come from. If we sneak around, we can probably find an empty room which has a few beds in it we can take – this place is so big nobody would notice we were there._

Ri sensed Lucario was excited; that was much preferable to anything else. Under it roiled the uneasiness of it all, but at least at this exact moment, he could find himself distracted by something.

However, just as they were preparing themselves to steal through the castle unnoticed, there was a loud knock at their door.

“I do not know if you are in there. If you are, come out and speak with me!”

Ri, Two, and Lucario all sensed the presence at the same time, but it wasn’t hard to figure out anyway: it was Evelyn, and Evelyn was pretty upset that they had disappeared on her.

Ri panicked – it was a mixture of feeling himself shutting down, becoming angry at Evelyn for being so inconsiderate, feeling scared of being hurt again, feeling the old things creep on him again, and _trying_ to not let it all happen to him. He hugged Two, hoping he’d feel hidden, but it didn’t work particularly well. He felt safer, at least. They all sat quietly, and hoped she’d just go away, but she knocked again, harder. She remained, making Ri start to wonder if they should teleport away.

_Is it possible for you to make us disappear again?_ Lucario asked Two, beating Ri to it. Two deferred to Ri, letting him choose if he wanted to face Evelyn or not. Ri sighed; he felt he needed to get out of there, so Two teleported them out, out to the field Lucario had brought them to. They were suddenly sitting on dirt, so they stood up quickly and wiped it out of their fur before looking around.

It was hardest for Lucario; he hadn’t bothered so much to look at things the night before, when it was dark and relatively hard to see. Ri, Two, and Red stayed still as they looked, but he walked around, trying to sense, too, and also trying to come to terms with his situation.

_Has it truly been a thousand years?_ He asked while looking around. _I remember this clearing well, and it looks nearly the same._

_Give or take at most a couple decades. The calendar we use wasn’t invented until long after you disappeared,_ Ri said.

_The castle – it is still standing, and it barely changed._

_Remember the brooch? The glass, and the lighting throughout the castle which is totally unnatural? The castle survived the war, and it’s been peaceful for Rota ever since._

Lucario was struggling to understand.

_How can so much time pass, yet everything feels the same? I sense, and it is the same field. The same forest. The same castle. I am home, and everything looks familiar, but you are telling me that it has been one thousand summers since I have last seen this place?_

_It’s hard to see here, but the world has changed much,_ Two said. _I couldn’t have existed until 20 or so years ago, and it took hundreds of years for humanity to learn enough to make me._

Lucario looked at Two almost threateningly; it alarmed Ri until he sensed that Lucario was sensing Two. That in itself was alarming, but it wasn’t quite as bad. Within 15 seconds later, Lucario calmed down.

_I can sense that you aren’t lying to me._

Lucario took a moment to process it, looking down at the ground since it didn’t distract him.

_If you are proof, I was trapped in the staff for one thousand years?_ He continued, shaking, tearing up, reaching the end of his line. He fell to his knees, and leaned forward and put his paws on the ground, so he would be stable. Ri felt sympathy, making him sick in the pit of his stomach, for Lucario. Also a measure of empathy; he remembered feeling many of the same things at the start of the abuse.

_Yes,_ Ri said, hoping that it would help Lucario accept it. Tears started flowing, and Ri felt like he was ready to cry himself, partly from remembering how he felt being betrayed and partly because of feeling bad for Lucario. Watching Lucario, Ri was grateful that Two was still with him. He couldn’t imagine bearing the loss he’d feel, especially if he thought Two had betrayed him just before he died. He wanted to cling to Two, and he looked to his mate longingly, seeing Two look back and want to be with him, too, but they didn’t; it didn’t seem appropriate at the moment. Instead, they focused back to Lucario, wondering how to help him.

_Why did you do this to me!? Why did you betray your kingdom? I trusted you, why did you do this to me?_

Ri could sense what was happening, but he didn’t need to. Lucario was confused; he didn’t understand why Aaron had done these things. Ri, Two, and Red did know why, but they couldn’t say, at least not until Lucario figured it out himself. Ri wanted to hate Aaron anyway; it didn’t matter whether he wanted to help or not, trapping Lucario in the staff was a betrayal, and Aaron was selfish, ignorant, and (making himself greater than he was) to do it.

_I hate humans, I hate Aaron! They are unreliable, selfish and cowardly!_

Lucario dissolved into a puddle of crying; at this point, Ri and Two felt it was best to leave him alone. They didn’t think it was good for him to come to such a conclusion hurting so much, but they understood, having done the same thing themselves. Crying was strange, too, after saying such a thing; it made Ri wonder how much Lucario truly meant it. It was going to be a while until he came back, so Ri and Two sat by him, across from each other, while Red paced around behind Lucario.

When he finally fell asleep, they stayed with him. Ri went around him to be with Two, and they talked about being lucky to have each other, and about increasingly light things (increasingly including Red) until they sensed people who were looking for them, and then they teleported back to the castle, and looked for a room that had beds and was open. They found one pretty quickly, and relieved, they hid inside it and locked and blocked the door so nobody could get in. They were relieved to have true beds, and they realized the room was a suite, so they were excited to shower. First, though, they laid Lucario on one of the empty beds, hoping he wouldn’t be too surprised when he woke up. After that, they showered, thinking about showing Lucario how to shower in the morning since they figured he’d like to feel clean like they did. After that, they went to bed, fur slightly damp, though they knew they would regret it in the morning.

#  \--––—Chapter 5—––--

_I never imagined something so soft could exist._

Ri realized he and Two had fallen asleep. He’d just woken up, and Lucario must’ve sensed that he was awake, now – he must’ve woken up first.

_Are you comfortable?_ Ri asked.

_It angers me that humans expected us to make do with the hard surface of the floor when they reserved for themselves such lavish comforts._

Ri took that for yes, but he felt he needed to qualify what Lucario had said.

_Beds in your time were not so comfortable. You’re not wrong, but there may be reasons other than selfishness that pokemon in your time were not allowed to sleep in beds._

_They had us sleep together on the floor, not even the human servants were treated as such. I was so blind – I thought it was my rightful place as a servant and pokemon – now I see that it was wrong._

_Did you enjoy sleeping on the bed, now?_ Two asked, finally awake.

– _Yes._

_It is OK to be angry about what has happened in the past, but it is also good to appreciate how the present is different._

_What is he trying to say?_ Lucario asked, turning to Ri to decipher.

_He wants you to enjoy things. I understand that it hurts, but it isn’t worth thinking about how it wasn’t the way you wanted it then when it can be the way you want it now. A bed is supposed to make you feel comfortable and happy; remembering the pain isn’t worth forgetting how you don’t have to experience it anymore._

_What experience do you have with such matters?_

_A lot!_ Ri said, defensively, instinctively receding into Two behind him.

_I do not mean to be accusatory; I intended to ask about your own past._

_I’m sorry._ Ri said, realizing that he’d assumed too quickly what Lucario meant. He remembered how he had a hard time sensing Lucario. Since Lucario could sense him, too, he tended to project onto him what he felt instead of sensing accurately what Lucario thought for himself.

_I was travelling with a group of people, and once, when I was powerless, they gave me away to save their own pokemon. I was sold to somebody who wanted to use me to control his region. I wouldn’t help him, so he forced me to want to help him._

It made Ri sick to describe it, especially so soon after Evelyn brought it all back up to him.

_And you say you can stand living with humans?_

_You saw what happened with Evelyn. Two, Red, and I generally live away from people, but sometimes I was able to go out and enjoy myself among people._

_What are we going to do to remember to enjoy ourselves?_

Lucario was receptive. Ri was grateful he was, because he was worried at first he wouldn’t be. He thought that what made the difference was how Ri had experienced the things he was telling Lucario; he himself had needed to focus on being grateful for Two and being free from Cipher as opposed to having been messed up by Cipher. Sensing Ri was being authentic and understanding, Lucario trusted him more.

_I don’t know – but we’re happy that you enjoyed the bed._

_I am hungry; first we should eat._

_Actually,_ Two said, _It’s been a while since you last bathed. We thought it would be good to show you how to shower so you can keep yourself clean as much as you want._

_Pokemon bathed fairly infrequently, and in lakes at that. The humans themselves didn’t bathe much more often – I do not feel uncomfortable the way I am now._

_But there isn’t any reason not to do it now. There is plenty of water, and showering and drying off afterward doesn’t leave you feeling so waterlogged as bathing in a lake does,_ Ri said.

_I do enjoy being clean, when Aaron –_

Lucario turned sullen, remembering what Aaron had done.

_I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it back,_ Ri apologized _._

_I used to have fun with him after we had our rare baths. I wish I understood at that time that he would so easily betray me._

Ri sensed Lucario’s hatred for Aaron – hatred of himself for ever trusting him.

_He considered himself your master,_ Ri said. _When it came down to it, he felt like he had the right to choose for you what the right thing was whether it was actually right or not._

Lucario looked Ri in the eye, but Ri looked away, choosing to look at Two’s understanding eyes instead. Lucario burned through him, but while Two saw through him too, he was a comfort, instead.

_You hate him, too._

_I hate the humans who abused me. It is very easy for me to transfer that hate onto others, especially when they do things that hurt pokemon because they think the same way as my abusers did._

– _I think that it would be a good idea for you to show me how to shower._

_OK,_ Ri said, feeling a bit relieved that Lucario didn’t want to press further.

Later, once they were clean (Ri and Two again,) they came out and sat with Red for a while, but the hunger they felt became overbearing, and it was becoming time to deal with it.

_I must admit, my fur feels good against my skin,_ Lucario said. _These seats are comfortable, too. However, they do not help the increasing hunger I feel._

_What do you normally eat?_ Two asked.

_Berries. When we weren’t working, we went out and picked them for ourselves._

_You didn’t hunt?_ Ri asked.

_Hunt!? Our masters would kill us if we killed another pokemon. You truly hunt to eat?_ Lucario asked. Ri was surprised he sounded disgusted; it was a misunderstanding all around, and it needed to be cleared up.

_No, we don’t! We know other Lucario who do, so it’s surprising that you never did._

_Our kind hunts?_

Ri nodded. _It’s a burden. It’s surprising that nobody let you eat some sort of protein, though. We’re obligate carnivores; we need it to survive._

_I made do without it._

_It must’ve been hard._

_I thought it was normal._

Ri considered the options.

_We can eat berries, too; we don’t have to face the thought of eating pokemon for now._

_Why make all this fuss of hunting when you do not hunt yourselves?_

_It was a misunderstanding. We were surprised you didn’t hunt, and it made you assume we did._

… _I see. What, then, are we going to eat?_

Ri looked around. There was a lot they could do with pokemon byproducts, but that seemed difficult at the moment. Introducing Lucario to the concept of the multiverse was too complicated, and it seemed strange to introduce Lucario to pokemon food when the point was to be independent of people, so berries seemed like the best option. Red and Two seemed to agree, so the matter was settled.

_Berries are OK. We can sneak out and pick some._

They stood up again, excited now to do something to fill their stomachs. They first checked the lock and barricade on their door to make sure nobody could get in, then Two teleported them back out to the forest, somewhere somewhat removed from what Two thought Lucario knew so it wouldn’t be so hard for him to visit again. They started looking around for berries to pick, but Ri got distracted by the feel of the forest, and started looking around more generally at the trees, at the light filtering through their falling leaves, and listening to the sounds that accompanied it all. Then he found Two, and decided to make sure Two enjoyed it, too.

_It’s almost like Viridian Forest._

Two looked up from looking for berries and looked around.

_I see what you mean. It’s a little more wild, since it’s less travelled, and we’re further north, so it’s a bit colder, too._

_More nordic._

Two shrugged. _There isn’t really a Nord here to be Nordic._

_It’s nice, though._

_Yeah. If Lucario is anything like us, he must’ve enjoyed visiting with Aaron._

_I did._

Ri and Two both jumped together, and looked around for Lucario, who was looking for berries a short ways away. He looked up, sensing their surprise.

_Do not forget that I can sense, too._

_We’re sorry, we’re used to being able to have privacy when we talk to each other._

Lucario shook his head.

_I should not have intruded. But – I always did feel free when I roamed this forest with Aaron. It almost felt like we were friends, and I almost forgot that he was my master._

Lucario turned sour again, and turned back to looking for berries, trying to forget about it again. Ri was upset with Aaron for Lucario’s sake; Lucario had good memories of him, but every time he remembered them they were overshadowed by the pain he felt of Aaron’s betrayal of his trust. Ri remembered he’d had fun with Ash, but now, it all sickened him too to think about in retrospect; Ri understood what Lucario was going through, and he wished that Aaron had just been more caring to think of what Lucario wanted as opposed to what he decided for himself was right.

_We’re sorry that your past with Aaron is muddied by what happened._

Lucario shook his head again, but he didn’t bother looking up from the forest floor to do it.

_I do not envy you being able to enjoy this place together. Enjoy it, and cherish the memory you have of it together, and do not spoil it by betraying each other like Aaron did me._

– _Thank you,_ Ri said, assuming Lucario understood he meant it for him and Two both.

Ri and Two continued looking together, while Red was off somewhere else. They spent a few more minutes looking before Lucario grew tired.

_I do not remember it being so difficult to find berries in this forest,_ he said, leaning back since he’d spent so much time hunched over. Ri and Two looked up to rest, too; neither of them were particularly good at looking for things visually, so it was frustrating when they couldn’t use their senses to find something.

_We assumed that there would still be berries here, but maybe something changed in it,_ Ri said.

_What could have changed? The forest is the forest. I knew this forest well, and this is a place I am unfamiliar with, so it must have grown since…_

_It did,_ Ri said, saving Lucario from having to continue that. _Things changed in the last couple centuries or so, though. Humans started using technologies which put pollutants into the air, and sometimes it killed off certain types of plants which require specific conditions to grow. The climate changed, too, so maybe berries just don’t grow so well in this forest anymore._

_The humans have been destroying the environment?_

_It’s better now – they cleaned up with the help of pokemon, but at first, they needed the dirty technologies to develop newer, safer, cleaner ones._

_This place has seemed to escape such mechanization fairly well,_ Lucario said, sounding relieved.

_It has. Rota seems to be stuck in the past. It might be good to visit Kanto in the south; there it is much more obvious that everything has changed._

_It would be good to eat,_ Lucario said, starting to feel stressed about it. Ri shrugged, unable to disagree.

_They may not be as fresh as berries picked straight from the bush, but we keep berries at our home. It wouldn’t be too hard to teleport some over,_ Two suggested.

That sounded good to Ri, but it was mostly up to Lucario, who seemed disappointed that they wouldn’t get to reenact his memories of the place. He nodded eventually, letting go of it for the moment, and Two teleported himself an assortment of berries in several different containers. He handed some to Ri as they built up, and they took them to Lucario and called Red over to eat. They all sat down on the forest floor with the berries between them, and they all searched for berries they liked and started eating.

_Do you have any spicy berries?_ Lucario asked, unable to find exactly what he wanted.

_I’m sorry – we don’t. None of us really like spicy food, so we don’t pick or buy spicy berries,_ Ri said.

_As long as the rest of them aren’t dry._

Lucario chose a berry and tasted it, seemingly satisfied with it. Ri actually liked dry berries, so a selection of them were, but he liked sweet things enough too, so there was something they all could like. He chose a drier one and tasted it, happy to finally be eating something.

_I thought it was hard to believe that we haven’t eaten since two days ago, but right now, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed eating something so much._

Two smiled, which was nice to see. _I’m glad you’re able to enjoy eating – I’m happy to be able to be here to enjoy it with you._

Ri thought back to when Two saved him from Cipher. He’d barely been able to eat, though Cipher didn’t exactly feed him enough. He was hungry a lot, but he wasn’t able to eat either, so not even then, when Two managed to get him to eat did he feel like this. That’s what Two was thinking, he sensed. They made sure they ate enough the rest of the time (generally) that it had never come up after Ri was able to eat regularly without needing Two to nearly force him to.

They ate for a little while, but even though he was so hungry, Ri felt filled pretty quickly. He looked down at himself – he was so skinny in the middle that there wasn’t ever much room in his stomach for food, no matter how hungry he was or how much he liked the food he was eating. He remembered how Mewtwo had eaten too many of his and Two’s pancakes the first night they stayed with him, Newtwo, and Ash’s family and was sick later; the same would happen to him if he ate too much, even despite his steel typing. Red and Lucario were shaped similarly, so they were similarly quickly finished, but they waited a bit longer for Two, who could manage to eat a little more despite his relatively weak body.

_Ri, explain your aura to me. I never knew other Lucario, are they all like you?_

_No – most Lucario look like you. I told you about my abusers – it’s all because of them. They injected me continually with fluids designed to change my mind, and they changed my color and the color of my aura, too. They cut off my spikes, too._

_I apologize –_

Ri shook his head. _Even sensing, you could not have known or even guessed._

_Does it affect how you battle?_

_No,_ Ri said. He was surprised by the question, but it made sense; it was just something nobody else had asked him before.

_Where do other Lucario live?_

_They are found generally far-off, across oceans. I don’t know where Lucario lived a thousand years ago, but if it’s like how it is now, I don’t know how you ended up here._

_I was the only Lucario I knew of in this land, but Aaron did tell me of others of my kind. He said they didn’t have my gift of Aura._

Ri shuddered at Lucario’s veneration for aura. He let it go, because it didn’t really matter, but aura was something common to all living beings – Ri never thought it was something to be so highly revered, though he did learn from other Lucario to respect it when it belonged to others.

_Aaron… did you meet Aaron as a Riolu?_ He asked, finding that much more interesting to talk about.

_No. He – saved me, and brought me back, and convinced the Lady that I should be allowed to stay with him – as a servant and lesser being, I now realize._

Lucario turned sour again, making Ri feel pretty terrible.

_I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it all back again._

Ri felt Two stare harshly at him; _very_ rarely did he do so. It made him feel worse, but he didn’t feel it was undeserved. However, the short discussion did elucidate some things for Ri. Lucario’s loyalty to the kingdom lied with Aaron first off, so it made a bit more sense that he’d become disillusioned with the kingdom and Evelyn when he felt betrayed by Aaron. Also, Ri was somewhat relieved that Lucario hadn’t evolved for Aaron. Ri knew what it was like for a Lucario to be hurt by the one they evolved for; it was single-handedly the reason Ri returned to Two in the first place, and chose him to care for instead. He looked again to Two, who had softened by now, seeing that Ri saw his error, and allowed himself to feel relieved instead that Draco _had_ shunned him that day when he returned. Ri didn’t realize until that moment that he really belonged with Two instead, and almost made a huge mistake leaving Two behind. He didn’t have to think about it, though, so when he felt himself starting to worry about the idea of not being with Two, he made himself focus back on the present.

_I can sense you, Ri. It seems you were hurt by the one for whom you evolved. That is not what happened to me, but I cared for Aaron somewhat like you care for Two. Imagine how you would feel if Two betrayed you._

Ri looked to Two _again._ He didn’t want to think about that. It made him sick to consider it. He didn’t need to, anyway; Two was trustworthy, and had Ri’s complete trust.

“We should do something; it’s boring, sitting all day and just talking.”

Ri sensed Red had checked out – he saw what Red meant.

_What is there to do while avoiding the people?_ Lucario asked.

Ri glanced at Red, guessing what he wanted to do.

_Often, we battle each other to practice our skills and keep ourselves in shape. It’s been a few days since we did it last, so it seems like a good time to practice again._

_All three of you?_

_Yeah._

Lucario spent a bit of time thinking, wondering how that dynamic worked.

_It… has been over a thousand years since I last battled,_ he said.

_You can join us, if you want. We should look for a proper space to battle._

_Follow me,_ Lucario said, jumping up. Ri sensed he meant to take them to a place he knew, but Ri was doubtful that that place would still exist if it was special, especially secret, to him and Aaron. He and Two got up to follow anyway, hoping for Lucario’s sake that it was still there. Red got up too, and they followed Lucario through the forest. They were generally leaving the forest, but where they were going would’ve been deep in the forest a thousand years ago. It was old forest, Ri could see, though these trees were probably even a generation or maybe two younger than the ones Lucario knew.

_It’s nice, walking through the forest,_ Ri said to Two, following behind Lucario.

_It’s calming; that’s very good for us at the moment._

Ri totally agreed. He smiled, enjoying feeling isolated from humanity, and also being with his mate. Two smiled too, for a little bit, then they got distracted as Lucario stopped in front of them, looking ahead in the distance.

_I cannot believe they have found this place._

He was standing, angry that humans managed to ruin another thing he cared for. Ri nor Two were surprised; in a thousand years, if the clearing survived the spread of the forest, surely someone else was going to find it and also like it. Somebody had built a house there, but it was currently empty, either because it was abandoned or because whoever lived there just wasn’t at home. In either case, they couldn’t use the space anymore.

_We’re sorry it was taken. We have our favorite spots in our own forest; we wouldn’t like those to be taken from us like this, either._

_There is another place. I came here because I thought it was less likely to be found._

Lucario went off again, and Ri, Two and Red followed again, happy there was still hope. A short walk away, he stopped in a clearing, and looked around, remembering.

_This was our training ground. Aaron taught me how to use and sense Aura here._

Ri and Two looked around for themselves, interested in what a medieval training battlefield was like. They had their practice gym at home, which was adapted from a training room for Two when he was made. It had energy dampening walls so they didn’t have to worry about blowing anything up in it, which was nice when they were practicing, and especially when Two was teaching Ri how to battle. Compared to their home, the clearing had no technology of any kind in it. However, it was empty, and rather spacious. Ri could see how Lucario thought this clearing might’ve been taken, but it was well hidden. In fact, Ri didn’t think anybody would find them even while battling, if somebody were out looking for them again.

_This is going to work fine for practicing, even with four of us._ Ri said.

_Are we ready to battle, then?_

_Yeah, I think so._

“Finally,” Red said, crouching low in preparation to battle. Lucario prepared himself, too, more mentally, and Ri and Two made themselves emotionally ready. After a few seconds of silence, they positioned themselves as the four corners of a square, Ri across from Two.

_Battle!_ Two said, starting it off. Ri anticipated it, so he was able to attack immediately. Lucario, he noticed, was a bit sluggish while Ri attacked Two with his bone. Two swatted it away with his power – there wasn’t much Ri could do about that.

_Why attack me first?_ He asked in the opening he created instead of attacking.

_You don’t get to complain, you’re seeing as far ahead as I am._

_Fair enough,_ Two said, deflecting an attack from Red and moving to attack Lucario. He hit Lucario with a weak Psychic attack, but it washed over him and left him disoriented, leaving Two to look at Ri feeling bad. Ri only shrugged, not feeling anything was particularly Two’s fault.

_What is happening? Aaron, is that you?_ Lucario attacked, trying to hit poor Red with an aura sphere. Red luckily learned from Ri to bat it away using Night Slash, but Lucario was still confused, making Two look to Ri quite worried.

_It’s OK. Remember how your attacks affected me the first few times? You’ve forgotten – there’s a chance that Psychic confuses the pokemon you hit with it. Lucario should be OK in a bit, it just has to wear off._

_I forgot how strong I am against fighting type pokemon._

_I’m sure Lucario will understand that you tried not to hurt him too much._

Ri found it cute that Two was so worried; it made him feel bad more for Two than for Lucario. He just wanted Two not to worry like that.

The battle stopped for a little while, leaving Lucario standing and confused about why they weren’t battling, which was better than battling confused and possibly hurting himself. A couple minutes later, the confusion faded, leaving Lucario fully with it again, and Two and Ri relieved.

_I – did I mistake Red for Aaron?_ He asked, still somewhat disoriented because he wasn’t sure exactly what happened.

“Yeah, for a moment when we were still battling.”

_What happened?_

_I hit you with one of my attacks. I’m a strong psychic, and fighting-type pokemon are weak to me. I tried accounting for it in the strength of my attack, but it still hit you excessively hard._

_You stopped the battle?_

_We didn’t want you to hurt yourself while you recovered. If you feel ready, we can continue._ Ri said.

_I – think I may sit out now and watch._

Ri sensed he didn’t plan on watching so much as thinking about Aaron, but he didn’t blame him, and it seemed appropriate to give him a little time alone anyway, so he didn’t argue.

_OK._

Lucario stepped aside and sat down, looking toward them but Ri wasn’t sure he was looking _at_ them. However, as they started battling again, Lucario spoke out, interrupting them.

_Is this how Lucario have evolved since my time?_ Lucario asked, surprised by Ri’s efficiency and ability to keep up with Two.

_No – I’m a strong Lucario. I also learned everything I know from Two, so I fight more like a psychic type than a fighting type._ _It also helps me to withstand his attacks._

_It is impressive, then, and somewhat intimidating._

_With training, I believe you can learn to adapt, and you’ll be stronger, too._

_Everything I know I learned from Aaron. I am starting to think that he did not truly know for himself how to feel the Aura._

_Do you know where he learned how to sense aura? As far as we know, humans aren’t able to sense aura._

_Nobody questioned him, and he never told me. I was unaware of Aura myself until he showed me, and I didn’t know all Lucario were sensitive to it until he told me much later._

Lucario deserved to know Lucario teachings about aura; Sinnoh Lucario even had stories about how Lucario came to be able to use and sense aura. Ri considered it was possible that Lucario as a species didn’t discover it themselves until _after_ Lucario as in the Lucario standing in front of Ri learned about it from Aaron, but that still left up in the air how Aaron knew about aura, and also the question of humans being able to use aura. Ri didn’t want to think about it too much; he didn’t want his species’ entire knowledge of aura to stem from humans. He would much rather like for aura to be something special to Lucario. Those Sinnoh stories didn’t involve humans anyway, but it was still weird that Aaron knew so much about Lucario if Lucario didn’t know they could use aura. In that case, it seemed as though Lucario grew up sheltered from other Lucario and was denied, whether actively or passively, knowledge he deserved to know until Aaron found him and saved him from whatever situation he had mentioned.

– _If – there’s enough time, I would like to share with you what I know of aura. I don’t have a ‘traditional’ understanding of it, but because I haven’t been ‘traditional,’ Two and I have been able to figure out quite a bit that other Lucario don’t._ Ri said, somewhat awkwardly, glancing at Two and Red wondering if he was going too far.

_I appreciate the offer. For now, I am happy to watch._

_OK._

They went back to battling, and battled for a little while longer. With Lucario watching, they felt a bit pressured to keep it somewhat short, so they didn’t go as long as they might’ve if Lucario were participating, but still it was nice to battle in the cool, fresh forest air and not have to worry about things. It was good to move a bit after the past couple days, too, since they spent most of them sitting and lying down and not moving much at all. The contrast was great for Ri and Two, and being with them seemed to help Lucario, too. For a moment, they forgot their problems, and so Ri felt a little more able to face them when they finished.

After battling, they gathered together, preparing to teleport back. They were sweaty – Ri and Two were, at least – so they looked forward to possibly showering _again_ before sleeping, but they also didn’t want to dry out their fur, but Ri was excited to worry about that instead of the things he had been the past couple days. Thinking about it, they teleported back, but their enjoyment was rudely interrupted by a presence they sensed instantly upon returning to the castle. Evelyn was waiting for them, and sensing it made Ri turn unhappy very quickly. He felt it in his stomach – a sickening mixture of being uncomfortable, hateful, scared, indignant, disappointed, and more, and unable to process it all at once, he felt himself shut down yet again. He felt Two around him to protect him and calm him down, though, and he sensed Two intending to teleport them away.

_Wait, maybe we shouldn’t –_

Two teleported them away before Ri could finish what he was saying.

#  \--––—Chapter 6—––--

Evelyn watched as her advisor walked down the hall quickly and curtly, frowning the whole way and looking down. She shuffled in her seat, making sure nobody else was around to witness this, since she already knew what she was going to say. The clicking of her shoes against the floor echoed through the hall, making the already tortuous wait even more so. Eventually, she finally stopped a respectful distance from Evelyn, though much more bravely close than she noticed any of the townspeople were willing to go.

“Lady Evelyn, I’m sure you know what I am going to talk to you about,” she said, shrewdly, with a voice that, in other times, Evelyn found great comfort in.

“It is so incredibly frustrating that those pokemon won’t even let me talk to them!” Evelyn said, standing up to pace. “I want to explain everything to them, but every time I try to get near them, they disappear on me!”

“It doesn’t help that every time you open your mouth, you insult them, dismiss them, or disrespect them.”

There’s a reason Mrs. Anders was Evelyn’s advisor; Evelyn trusted her enough to let her say such things.

“That Lucario, I just want to explain to it that I’m sorry, and also about its old master,” she said, exasperated.

“That there is your problem, my Lady – ” Mrs. Anders said, but she was cut off.

“But those other ones, Ri, Two, must have convinced it that I’m evil or something, so it won’t even let me explain anything.”

“Am I your advisor to listen, or to talk so I can help!?” Mrs. Anders said, scaring Evelyn into submission for at least a moment.

“That Lucario has been abused. No Lucario I know of would willingly let their spikes be removed. _You_ disrespected _him,_ and he _gave_ you a chance to correct yourself, but you dismissed him. In his mind, you’re not better than whoever it was who abused him. He is avoiding you because you are a danger to him.”

Evelyn had a hard time thinking of those pokemon as ‘he,’ ‘him,’ ‘his.’ They didn’t seem to be acting like real people, so Evelyn didn’t feel inclined to afford that to them.

“But they still must have influenced Lucario against me. I should be – his – rightful master, and his loyalty should be with – his – kingdom after all this time.”

“I do not doubt that they are not taking your side on this, but it seems that Lucario has his own problems that he needs to work through. Nothing those other pokemon did could change so drastically how loyal Lucario is. Lucario are naturally loyal, so this one must feel that his loyalty has been betrayed.”

“Sir Aaron was a faithful servant, he sacrificed himself to save the kingdom!”

“Lucario was trapped in the staff. For all we know, he doesn’t know better than we do what happened. Who knows what he thinks happened?”

Evelyn wondered: if Lucario were so loyal, how could this specific one turn so easily? Ri, the other Lucario, must’ve had loyalties, too – if he was abused like Mrs. Anderson had said, where did his loyalties lie? How could Evelyn expect an abused Lucario to act? She barely knew how to expect a normal Lucario to act, not to mention Mewtwo and some other pokemon she’d never seen before. A few days ago, the castle had been running normally, in its routine preparations for the festival. Then, suddenly, these pokemon showed up and disrupted everything, and now they were growing to be big problems. Evelyn had no idea how to deal with them; most pokemon obeyed trainers, or at least listened to people, but these ones didn’t seem to have trainers and seemed to expect people to treat them like people, yet they acted the way they did, making it hard for _anybody_ to treat them the way they wanted to be.

She stopped pacing, finally realizing she was over her head.

“Help me, Mrs. Anders, how do I deal with this?”

With how quickly Mrs. Anderson answered, Evelyn wondered how much she had prepared in advance.

“I can’t guarantee that you will be able to get through to either Lucario or Mewtwo, who seems pretty close to Ri and likely to protect him over listening to you. That other one, though, the dark one, seems to be less involved with the others and more stable and approachable. If he’s with that Lucario, Ri must also trust him, so he can get through to them if you talk with him.”

“If he’s their friend, what’s going to say he’s going to listen to me over them?”

“You’re not looking to make them change their minds, you’re looking to understand them so you can learn how to treat them properly. The dark one may be _frustrated_ with you, but he won’t be so guarded with you and you may actually get to talk to him.”

Suddenly, this seemed like a huge process.

“I don’t know _why_ I’d want to try to understand them. They haven’t tried to understand me. They want me to treat them like humans, but people don’t do this to other people.”

“People don’t? I must admit, it is strange thinking this way. Yet, you expect pokemon to be docile and obedient. They aren’t pokemon because they aren’t that, but they aren’t people because they are able to think for themselves?

“Don’t dismiss their propriety. They do not treat you this way because they are unable to be kind, or are mistrained, or ‘faulty.’ If you think that, you _are_ no better than the ones who hurt those pokemon. No. They have reasons for the ways they are acting, do not forget that. Ri must have been hurt a lot to be unable to trust you just for calling him ‘it’ once. He must deeply care about something to cause him to do that, and that is something that you have to accept and work with, rather than dismiss him for.”

“But it wasn’t the appropriate time to bring it up, I was trying to help them after they broke our exhibits!”

“You still don’t know what happened. It could be a mistake, for all you know, and pokemon have powers we do not have. The little mistakes pokemon make can easily be more catastrophic than our own little mistakes. And, for that Lucario, that one moment that you hurt him was more important than any other; it did not matter that you were trying to help him, because even then you demonstrated how little you respected him. I do not pretend to know about and understand abuse victims, but it seems to me that something flipped in that Lucario, making it hard for him somehow to even bother to try to forgive you.”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault that everything’s gone this way?”

“No, I’m saying that it’s not _completely_ their fault. Yes, you are right: it is not right for that Lucario to shun you so easily for an honest mistake. But, from his point of view, it was a lot more than that, and you can’t change _that._ What you can change is what you show them, and work to understand them so that you can more accurately show them your intent to respect them they way they _need_ to be respected.

Evelyn still wasn’t totally sure. It felt strange to her, thinking of pokemon this way.

“Are they really like us, Mrs. Anders? Most pokemon obey orders, listen to trainers. Where does that put these ones?”

Mrs. Anders must’ve seen something change; Evelyn saw her attitude change wholesale. She was closer to the mother figure Evelyn loved her for, which was a relief to her because it meant she could be a comfort.

“I am not sure, Evelyn,” she said, more softly than she had been. “Pokemon have been known to speak, and many legendary pokemon are said to have minds of their own. Our own legends even talk of how intelligent Lucario was, and how he was able to speak. I do not think these are pokemon who are expecting more than they are worth, I think they expect the same things any normal person expects from another. Have they not demonstrated that they are like people in that regard?

“Maybe they are not exactly like people, but different people talk different ways, believe different things, think different ways. You don’t think of them as lesser humans for it, they are just different. I think these pokemon are just different, too. They do not look like people, but they are people, too. Their thoughts, emotions, feelings are just as valid as our own – any living being deserves that. They act the way they do because others have violated that, others have treated them as if their self-ownership doesn’t matter. They learned to go to great lengths to protect it; that is why they were guarded with you at first and now walled off.”

“Have I been doing the same thing to them?” Evelyn asked. She saw what Anders was saying now; she had never meant to be disrespectful. She remembered being kind to them at first, and being respectful of their self-propriety, too. Ri had seemed guarded, but he had been receptive until she refused to acknowledge his propriety.

“When I called him ‘it,’ it really dehumanized and degraded him, didn’t it.”

“Yes.”

Evelyn sighed. She hadn’t meant to do that. She didn’t even know that it could be like that.

“I want to treat them right, now.”

“Good,” Mrs. Anders said.

“They teleported away, again, though, and I have no idea where they go when they do that.”

“It is up to them, then, whether they come back or not. I do not know how strong Ri is – it is solely up to him if he feels able and willing to forgive what has happened.”

This conversation left Evelyn to look back on the things she had done after in a new light.

“Ri just wanted to be safe from me, and I kept trying to force him to confront me. That wasn’t right; I should’ve left them alone.”

Evelyn sighed again, feeling sorry. She didn’t want to do that to him anymore. If he had his own trauma which made it hard for him to offer her trust in the first place, she didn’t want to press him harder into whatever it was that had hurt him. Now, though, it was out of her hands as the pokemon were somewhere else. She hoped that they’d come back – she wanted to apologize and make amends, but she also realized she only wanted it if that Lucario were willing. She had forced enough onto him – Evelyn wasn’t going to do that anymore.

“I’m sorry, Ri – I didn’t know I could hurt you so easily.”

“There are many sorts of people in this world, Evelyn.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes; Mrs. Anders went from comfort mode to teach mode, and it wasn’t usually Evelyn’s favorite time.

“As Queen, you must learn to be graceful with everyone. People of all sorts come to your halls for all different reasons. These pokemon came seemingly to find Lucario, but they didn’t expect to have their mental health challenged. Other people may come here expecting one thing but find themselves tied up in another, and you must be able to help them through it. It is up to you to help your people like this, so it doesn’t help when you’re the one causing the problems!”

Mrs. Anders swatted at Evelyn with something she was holding. It hurt, but it happened enough that Evelyn understood she was teasing her. The pain faded away soon, and Evelyn saw that Mrs. Anders wasn’t too angry. She seemed content, so Evelyn figured the lesson was over.

“Thank you, Mrs. Anders, for your help.”

Mrs. Anders bowed, but Evelyn never considered her a servant – she was a friend. She then walked away, leaving Evelyn to sit and wait for those pokemon to return – if they ever did.

#  \--––—Chapter 7—––--

– _teleport home…_

Ri looked around, seeing that Two had teleported them straight to their living room.

_Oops…_ Two said, realizing after the fact that he’d acted too quickly even for himself to sense that Ri was thinking of _not_ teleporting home. Ri found it cute, how Two felt bad – he smiled, but only quickly as he remembered what had just happened.

His thinking was that their technology at home was not actually from their world, so bringing Lucario there would give him a distorted view of what technology really was. Lucario was having a hard enough time accepting 1000 years had passed since he was last able to walk, see, or do; Ri thought it was too much to have to tell him about the multiverse, too. It was a moot point anyway, now, and also lost when Ri remembered about what had just caused them to come home in the first place. He sat down, needing a moment to process it all, but he didn’t start without first noticing that, admittedly, the couches at the castle were more comfortable, and also Two sitting down next to him.

Evelyn had gone too far. Way too far. The shock of it hit Ri again, and he leaned back into the couch to feel more comfortable and grounded. He felt violated – it all stemmed from that initial event when she called him ‘it’ and dismissed him for trying to fight for himself. He reminded himself he had the right to do that, like Two had taught him – he remembered assuming he’d be abused again if he ever considered thinking for himself, and it had taken Two a while to get it through to him that his propriety wasn’t something somebody gave him – it was something that was inherently his, and that meant nobody had a right to take it from him. But Evelyn… she had tried to. She at least showed that she didn’t care about it, and then she continued trying to force them to face her, showing him that she didn’t think he deserved to decide for himself what he got to do.

_Two…_

Ri leaned into his mate once again, and basically stopped thinking. He didn’t want to deal with it, he wanted to forget about it and be the way he was before he met Evelyn. He was feeling sick again; it was unpleasant, and it didn’t help when everything was roiling in his mind, confusing him and scaring him.

_It’s OK, Ri,_ Two said softly. He felt Two bunt the side of his head. He appreciated it; Two was being affectionate, which always helped him reorient himself and help him work through it. Ri didn’t really bunt himself, but he cuddled into Two’s side, sensing in order to realize that Lucario and Red were looking on awkwardly.

_You don’t have to stay with us,_ Two said, looking up to them. _Just – keep Lucario away from the technology for now, and let us explain it to him ourselves._ He continued, but privately to Red. Ri could hear because he was bonded to Two, but Lucario had a harder time reading Two’s thoughts, so it was secret from him, which was the only thing that mattered. Red took Lucario away to the kitchen, where some of their tamest technology was, leaving them alone to work through it all and Two to concentrate back on Ri.

_Evelyn doesn’t have to be a problem anymore, we’re home now so we’re not encroaching on her home anymore._

_But won’t Lucario have to go back?_

_Perhaps. Lucario isn’t too keen on going back at the moment, so we don’t have to face it for now._

_Good._

There was a pause.

… _Why do humans think they have the right to control us like this? Why do they think we’re lesser than them? Why does that mean they get to have rights over us?_

_I don’t know, Ri._

Ri felt like that should’ve been scary, but in fact it was a comfort that Two didn’t know, either.

_I do know it isn’t fair._ Two continued.

Ri sighed. It wasn’t fair. It enabled Cipher to take Ri’s rights from him and make him believe he never deserved them in the first place. It enabled Evelyn to dismiss him when he asked for a simple thing any human got to have automatically, also to put him in a position where he _had_ to ask for that said simple thing.

_Pokemon deserve the same things humans think humans deserve; I wish more pokemon would understand that and demand it._

Ri sensed himself, wondering how much he actually meant that. Sometimes, he didn’t know how much of what he said was things he actually believed, or just reflecting things Two had said a very long time ago. Largely, Ri had adopted and reconciled the things Two had told him, but sometimes, in scary moments like these, he wondered.

Ri felt close to crying, but he managed to hold it off this time. He’d cried enough over himself the past couple days – he was even exhausted of that. He was exhausted of being pulled back like this, of being dampered and threatened like this. He wanted to be able to go out and not worry about stuff like this happening.

Yet, he worried, too. He imagined himself snapping at someone for disrespecting him, but not in detail, because it sickened him to think about it. What he really wanted was to be strong; strong enough to withstand such things.

_You’re strong, Ri. Don’t ever think you aren’t,_ Two stepped in. _Weak pokemon don’t forgive like you’ve forgiven Red, or think of others even when they are hurting, or stand up even against their abusers like you have. Haxorus won’t hurt any more pokemon because you were brave enough to go through the trial – don’t ever forget that._

_Red’s a pokemon – all those humans…_ Ri was trying to say it was different, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to say humans weren’t like pokemon when he believed so strongly that pokemon were like people. This did threaten to make him cry; he blocked it out for the moment because he couldn’t bear thinking that humans deserved the same amount of forgiveness Ri was willing to afford pokemon. Pokemon didn’t abuse other pokemon, anyway, he realized, at least not like humans did, on such a grand scale.

It helped Ri fend off the things he was feeling, but he ended up crying softly anyway, because it showed him he wasn’t ready at all yet for that part of the process. He remembered Hop and Liz, and remained hopeful that people didn’t _have_ to be that way, but it’s the way humans were; Ri couldn’t change that in them single-handedly, or even with Two’s help.

Within an hour later, he was feeling better already. He started thinking of Red and Lucario, and hoped that Lucario wasn’t too traumatized by the sudden jump of over a thousand years from the relatively untouched Rota to their futuristic home under Cinnabar. First, though, he wanted to acknowledge Two’s help; he was grateful Two was so willing to stay with him and help him.

_Thanks, for staying with me._

_Of course,_ Two said, still somewhat tenderly.

_I’m – starting to think you like it when I get like that. It means you get to have quiet time with me for a while._ Ri said, purely teasing Two.

_I love sitting with you – I never enjoy when it happens because of stuff like this._

_We should try to sit more when there isn’t stuff like this happening to us, so you can enjoy it more._

_I’m sure you would enjoy it more, too,_ Two said, somewhat amused that Ri wasn’t thinking about it.

_I guess I would._ Ri said, surprised when he realized he hadn’t thought of that himself.

They got up, feeling better, and went to look for Red and Lucario. Somehow, Red had managed to keep Lucario to the kitchen, seemingly with offerings of food from the magic food preserver – their fridge. It seemed like there was meat on Lucario’s plate, so it seemed also that Red had somehow managed to explain to him the concept of the multiverse, too, and Lucario decided to try it based on that.

“He knows,” Red said upon seeing them walk in and look around to see what was happening. “He inquired about the meat in our fridge; I couldn’t figure out how to explain it to him without explaining the whole multiverse thing, too.”

_It’s fine – I knew that coming here, it was going to be hard to avoid it._ Ri said.

The meat was half-eaten on Lucario’s plate, so Ri guessed Lucario wasn’t too much of a fan.

_I understand that somehow, this food Red has given me is neither human nor pokemon, yet when I tried it, it was sickening to think that others of my kind can only find it by killing other pokemon. I could not continue eating it; I hope that there is something else we can eat which will also nourish us._

Ri thought for a moment, then teleported himself the bag of pokemon food they had bought to eat with Riolu in Galar, now long gone stale.

_This is food humans formulate for us. This is stale and inedible, but we’re willing to buy it and eat it. It’s healthy and nutrient-rich, so it’s really all we need to make sure that we’re eating healthily._

_If it is so convenient to eat, why choose to eat living beings?_

_It – doesn’t taste so great. I’d give you some to try, but it wouldn’t be fair to have you try stale pokemon food before trying fresh, higher quality food first._

_I do not mind how it tastes as long as it doesn’t come from a living being._

Ri never thought he’d meet a vegan Lucario, even despite all the Lucario he knew who hated hunting. This Lucario was from another time, though; maybe Lucario back then didn’t hunt, or maybe they were lucky enough to not need to. Whatever it was, Ri didn’t blame Lucario for anything; he remembered visiting other Lucario and refusing to hunt and being shamed for it, and he had no intent to do that to Lucario.

_Besides the food, Red also tried explaining to me about the technology in your home, though I had a difficult time understanding that._

Ri looked to Two. Often, Ri didn’t mind speaking for Two, but Lucario was a friend now, and Ri felt Two would be better at explaining this.

_Over time, technology progressed as humans learned about how the world worked. At first, this development of knowledge and technology was incredibly slow. Even 500 years ago, things were not too different than they were from your time. In these past 500 years, though, the pace increased at an increasing rate, so that the world looked vastly different even 10 years ago. As time continues moving on, though, the margin for technological progress has started to diminish. Thinking about it now, our technology is not too far different from the world around us, though it can be considered… 50 or so years ahead._

_How does one have technology that is beyond that of the rest of the world?_

_It was given to us by somebody from another universe,_ Ri answered. _One which has developed technology which the humans of our universe haven’t developed yet._

_What does this have to do with what Two was trying to tell me?_

_Our tech is 50 years ahead of the tech of the world around us, but since the rate of technological progress is slowing again, the world 50 years from now is going to look fairly similar. We were worried that bringing you here would give you a false sense of what the world is like, but we realized that, at least compared to your time, the tech here and the tech everywhere else is effectively identical, so there probably wasn’t too much of a reason to worry._

_Can we finally leave this – kitchen, then?_

_Sure, we’ll show you around._ Ri said.

Lucario got up, and followed them as they showed him their home. They took him back to the living room, which was basically the social hub of the complex, and showed him the TV and the speakers and game systems. He’d seen the kitchen and dining room already, so they skipped them and showed him their office, with its computers which they explained to him and their bookshelf on the opposite wall – more appropriately their book wall, complete with a nook big enough for them to lie and read together. Lucario inquired about all the books – something familiar to him – among all this new, seemingly superior equipment for consuming media, and Ri answered that books were still liked – not _everything_ had been replaced from Lucario’s time.

Then they showed him the bedrooms, mostly just so he could find them if he ended up staying longer than the rest of the day. Mentioning that to him made Ri think to look up the time, and he saw that it was still _early,_ meaning that the day was going to feel _very_ long. Then he thought to show Lucario a clock, which impressed him greatly compared to the computers and other tech since he understood the concept of keeping time and could relate the exact ability of a clock to tell time to his own ability to track the sun across the sky. Lastly, they showed him their practice gym, so they could continue practicing. They showed him how its walls could absorb energy by attacking them with aura spheres and psychic spheres, and Lucario appreciated that, too, having trained with Aaron and having to worry about the environment when he did so.

After that – Lucario was overwhelmed. They brought him back to the living room, and sat him down to let him try to reconcile everything, sitting with him even just so that he could sense them and start to understand everything. It was a lot to take in, Ri understood; he’d been through a similar shock upon leaving Draco’s world for the first time.

_I sense you; it seems that you are not tricking me, yet it is still impossible to believe that these things exist. How do I know that_ this _isn’t the alternate universe, that you have brought me here to convince me that it’s been 1000 years when it hasn’t?_

_If you truly want, we can teleport back to angry Evelyn and fly back here without teleporting._ Two said.

_No need; I can sense that you are not tricking me. It is, however, impossible to believe that the humans I know from my time are the same ones who built these technologies. It would seem like – magic, to them, impossible, yet you tell me that it all follows nature like how a tree grows in the forest by a river or how the sun rises and sets every morning._

_We’re lucky enough to have a basic understanding of how it all works, and also of the work that went into developing these technologies,_ Two said. _Remember, these did not exist for you until this afternoon, and all this, which took the humans 1000 years to produce, was introduced to you within an hour without context._

_I want to know what happened in the time I was trapped._

_That’s… quite a lot,_ Ri said. _We’ve read a lot together, but we can’t say we know any significant portion of history or even technology._

_I do not care. If I am stuck here, I do not want to be foreign to your world like this –_ my _world._

_In that case, Do you know how to read?_ Two asked.

Lucario shook his head. _Aaron never taught me. Another thing he withheld from me because I am a pokemon..._

Ri didn’t blame Lucario; he was thinking it too.

_Perhaps we can teach you,_ Two said. _You know the language well; all reading is is relating the sounds you hear in your head to symbols – words, and the letters that make them up – that are written down or displayed._

_The only problem is that most of the symbols we use stand for different sounds in different contexts; you have to learn which sounds they make depending on the letters that are around them._ Ri continued.

_There aren’t symbols for every possible sound?_

_There are – but most languages don’t work that way. It would be way too inefficient._

… _Like how pokemon language is substantially simpler to speak than the one we are using now?_

Ri nodded; Lucario got the point. If Ri had been speaking in Lucario, he’d be using the different syllables of the word “Lucario” to speak, rather than all the options he had in what he considered English. It was like how English condensed several sounds onto one letter: different meanings were condensed onto one syllable.

But, learning to read _was_ hard, though pokemon minds tended to be plastic – Ri felt that Lucario could do it. Ri considered that most pokemon didn’t really know how to read, but what sort of second class servants were pokemon if they were treated like Lucario has been telling them they were? Aaron was surely a high-class individual, and Lucario was a direct servant under him, yet Aaron, who likely knew how to read, didn’t even think that it was a skill Lucario could use or deserved to know. Ri hoped that it would be easy for him, because then he could start to catch up on all the stuff he had missed.

_We’ll teach you,_ he said. _Once you can read, you’re free to use the nook in our office, and you can read anything you want._

Lucario got caught up on what Ri had said. It shocked him, making him realize that he _was_ free.

… _What does ‘free’ mean? I do not know what it is like to be free._

Ri needed Two to explain it; at the moment, he felt likely to tear up if he tried. He almost felt like crying anyway, out of sympathy for Lucario, and of hatred for the people who thought it was OK to treat any pokemon as a slave, servant – anything less than a free being.

_Ri – I’m sorry – I can’t explain it again, not now, to him._ Two said, weakly, especially for his minds’ voice.

Ri gulped, understanding what Two meant. Explaining that put Two in a certain state of mind, one which was reserved for Ri when Ri wasn’t doing too well. It felt wrong doing it for Lucario.

_I understand. I’ll try to myself._

Ri prepared himself, trying to steel himself so he could get through it.

Freedom is… the state of being able to choose for yourself. What the choice is doesn’t really matter; you are free if there is nothing outside of you forcing you to choose a certain way.

_As I understand, you were not free once, too?_

Ri nodded. _We’re not going to tell you what you should do. Well – we might – but we will never force you to do that. We will never try to control you, because you – have the right to control yourself._

_How were you un-free?_

_They –_ Ri glanced at Two; he wasn’t sure he was going to be alright talking about it again.

– _Is it hard for you to tell me?_

_I… want you to know, but I don’t think I’m strong enough to tell you right now._

_So… you are free to choose whether or not to tell me._

Ri nodded.

_I will not try to force you to tell me._

_Thank you._

_Why do you thank me?_ Lucario asked, pulling his head back in confusion.

_Because you want me to tell you,_ Ri explained. _You let me choose selfishly by letting go of what you wanted._

_But I do not want to try to cross over your own will, like you say you will do for me._

Ri nodded again. _That’s what it’s like being free. You often have to choose for yourself between things you want._

_I_ did _choose a lot of things for myself – the food I ate, or how I played when I didn’t have work._

_Your masters let you – they afforded you that, but they still owned it._

_What is the difference?_

_If you made a decision contrary to what your masters wanted, they would have punished you for it. They let you make decisions they thought weren’t important, and forced you to comply with the things they did find important, or forced you to face their consequences when you made a decision they thought wasn’t yours to make, or made what they decided was a bad decision. Among us, at least, you are free – we will never decide for you what decisions you can make, or force you to make a certain decision a certain way._

_But the Lady faced consequences for her own free decisions, too?_

Ri nodded yet again.

_You can freely put yourself in the service of someone else, but you can still be free in the sense that you freely chose to be in that position. Also, having freedom does not mean you have the right to cross over someone else’s freedom; you might have the freedom in the sense of ability to enslave someone else, but they have the right too to protect their own freedom; they may fight back to do so._

_It seems that it could be advantageous to be enslaved to someone; it would help to clear away this confusing jumble of responsibility and freedom._

It almost sickened Ri to hear him say that; he hoped Lucario sensed it clearly, but he realized too that he had to respect Lucario’s opinion. After the fact, he hoped even more that Lucario recognized that over his more immediate reaction.

_I guess – you can decide for yourself._ Ri said, carefully. _It is very important to me to be free. I’d rather face the consequences of freedom rather than not be able to choose for myself. I – had that choice taken from me forcibly, and the people who did it forced me to_ choose _to do horrible things._

Lucario _did_ see, and Ri was happy that he seemed to respond well. Lucario probably never had anything truly forced on him until Aaron put him in the staff; he didn’t realize at first that something like what had happened to Ri _could_ happen.

_I – perhaps I should not be so intimidated by the freedom you have brought to me._

_Perhaps the way I explained it was confusing. It can be difficult, being free, but it means that you can watch out for yourself. It gives you the ability to choose for yourself what the best thing is. It brings responsibility – but I still feel responsible for the things I did in captivity, too. You do not have to navigate it alone; we can help if you want._

_I want to learn to read,_ Lucario said, somewhat suddenly, though Ri and Two could sense it happening.

_Reading_ does _enable you to learn more to be more able to make decisions for yourself,_ Two said. _We’ll need a bit of time to prepare and figure out how best to teach you, so we’ll start tomorrow._

Lucario was excited about something; that was good. It also made it clear that Lucario was planning on staying for an extended period of time. That was good too; Ri didn’t have to deal with Evelyn at the moment.

The day exhausted Ri, too, so it wasn’t likely anyway that they were going to be able to start lessons that day. They lounged the rest of the day, and tried to show Lucario how their game system worked as they played. The TV itself fascinated Lucario, and the sound system, since they clearly showed him things he could understand with his senses. It was a little harder to get through to him that the processing was being done on the Switch attached to the TV via the dock, or that the controllers Ri and Two and Red were using controlled what was happening on-screen, but he managed to get a hold of it and even play for a little bit. They went out afterward, since they needed to buy pokemon food, and they brought Lucario to show him the supermarket, which was something Lucario actually understood, though the scale of it impressed him, and the large concentration of humans worried him, though the people were comfortable enough with Ri, Two, and Red being around that they weren’t a bother. After that, they brought him back and they ate at the table, choosing to show him the utensils which were admittedly hard to use. After that – they let him sit at Ri’s desk and try to play around on his computer after Ri made sure he wouldn’t harm it in any way while they lied in their nook and read.

Finally, they showed him to his room, which made him nearly cry to see. It was his, they said; his own personal space, unlike the place he’d shared with Aaron, and especially unlike the way servant pokemon lived in Rota. Owning something was new to him; Ri explained that that was a part of being free. Technically, the room was still Ri and Two’s – even Red’s room was – but that didn’t matter – they had given it to Lucario, as they had easily given Red’s to him. They didn’t consider it theirs, so it was essentially Lucario’s. They also promised to let him have other things to consider his own once he familiarized himself with their technology. It seemed like the message of it didn’t get through to him particularly well – Ri thought it might’ve helped if they had him work for it, but that seemed dangerous at the moment, too, so it seemed best to give it to him and make sure he knew it wasn’t intended to make him feel like he owed them or was in service to them, since people had given things to him as his masters, too, and it was a bit confusing to him. Most importantly, Ri thought, he told Lucario that he was free to take anything they gave him back with him to Rota if he chose to go back, and he made sure to point out that they probably wouldn’t let him keep any of it if he chose to go back and be a servant. It helped to make a clear distinction between the way Ri and Two were giving him things and the way masters gave their servants/slaves things: masters controlled what their slaves owned, while Ri and Two were giving things to Lucario just to be helpful.

After showing him to the bathroom when he asked, they finally went to bed themselves. Though the beds at the castle were nicer, there wasn’t anything like their bed at home, simply because they were used to their bed at home. They lied on it together, getting ready to sleep, but read for a little while longer. Ri was about ready to sleep, but he sensed Two wasn’t quite ready, so he lied and waited for Two to say whatever it was he wanted to.

_Thank you, for talking to Lucario about freedom._

Ri looked to Two; he sensed Two really cared about that.

_It’s OK – I understand._

_It was hard for you to talk about it. I’m sorry that I put you through that._

Ri shook his head. _It would’ve been hard for you to talk about too_. _I didn’t want you to go through that, either. It didn’t end up being as bad as I thought, anyway. It was worst when Lucario suggested being enslaved was better than being free._

It made Ri shudder again thinking about it.

_I appreciate it, Ri._

_I know,_ Ri said, bunting fairly poorly into Two’s side, so it was almost more of a Headbutt.

_Ow,_ Two said.

_Sorry!_

_It’s OK. I know what you mean._

They cuddled together, a little more painlessly.

_Thank you, for caring about me._ Ri said.

_I love you,_ Two said, partly for affirmation, partly for explanation.

_I love you too,_ Ri said, meaning that he cared for Two, too, also accepting Two’s explanation.

Then, they slept.

#  \--––—Chapter 8—––--

The next couple weeks, they taught Lucario how to read. He was completely fluent in English, so all they had to do was teach him how the letters corresponded to the sounds he made when he spoke. They started with “Lucario,” since that was the most natural thing he was able to say, and also since it was something Ri could sound out physically without an accent. They moved on from that when Lucario understood the idea of it, and started introducing new letters and new sounds for the letters he knew already until they had worked through most of the rules for it. They helped him sound out simple stories, and he started getting the hang of it himself, so they opened up their library to him, which made him quite excited, they were happy to see.

They also helped him make decisions for himself like they had promised. He settled into it, over time, and understood a bit better as Ri, Two, and Red reacted freely to his own actions. Sometimes – often – most of the time – they reacted positively, and Ri tended to react better than he needed to, showing him that he didn’t have to choose the most selfish thing at all times and helping him to feel comfortable making these decisions himself. Reacting poorly to him showed him that he could stand up for himself, too, and he felt braver with it as they tried to _always_ back off when he did so, showing him that he had the right to deny someone else’s free will, too. That was a little harder for him, since he was used to being forced to submit to others. Ri, Two, and Red all had to be careful to make sure he wasn’t being submissive by default until he started standing up for himself to care for his freedom and they could show him that they intended to respect it. It was also confusing to him to watch Ri be generally submissive to Two; it was a dynamic in which they both submitted to each other, like how Ri needed Two to talk about freedom, but Two more greatly needed Ri to – how Ri submitted in that circumstance, or how Two submitted at other times when it was less important to him to have things be a certain way. They tried explaining it, how they knew each other well enough and trusted each other implicitly to respect each others’ freedom, wants, and needs. Often, one was willing to submit to the other because they understood and trusted that the other would do the same. They felt safe with each other, so they easily submitted because they could trust themselves to each other since they believed they respected each other. Crucially, they explained that they _chose_ to submit to each other, and they did this because they believed that they would never _force_ each other to submit. The problem was when humans tried _forcing_ pokemon to submit, like how Cipher abused Ri, how Giovanni tricked Two, or how Aaron had trapped Lucario in the staff without asking or notice.

When Lucario was able to read, he was also fairly comfortable with his freedom and with Ri, Two, and Red, too. A week or so after they brought him home, which even Two thought was impressive, they were all sitting together in the office. Ri and Two were at their computers, but Red was OK sharing the nook with Lucario, so they were reading together. Every once in a while, Lucario would ask Red how to pronounce a certain word, but he always understood the word when Red sounded it out for him. He was smart, Ri decided; it was tragic that anybody had forced him to waste the first part of his life because they didn’t value him.

_Are we going to go back to Rota?_ Lucario asked, Ri sensing he was beginning to become bored with the book he was reading. He’d done a lot of it since they told him he could read anything; Ri was surprised he wasn’t wiped out already, but he supposed that if somebody kept him from composing his whole life, he’d manage to write a symphony in a couple days if he discovered it so suddenly as Lucario had – and managed to master it so quickly as Lucario had. That is – Ri figured Lucario had always wanted to know; it was something he gave up on because it was ‘his place,’ but with Ri, Two, and Red, he had no reason to accept such things anymore.

_Do you want to?_ Two asked, sensing Lucario for himself. Already, Ri felt things coming back to him – frustration toward Evelyn paired with nervousness and scaredness, anger at Aaron. He wondered about the Tree; they’d seen it from a distance but hadn’t visited yet, and they still didn’t know what Aaron supposedly did to save Rota. Ri sensed the things coming back to Lucario, too: disdain for Evelyn, and for people in general, a sense of confusion regarding Aaron he’d never resolved, the pain of the betrayal he faced which enabled him to be open and receptive to Ri’s and Two’s teaching in the first place.

_I need to know about Aaron._ Lucario said. Ri could understand. He had found comfort in knowing that the Cipher leader was unable to hurt other pokemon; that’s why it was so traumatizing for him to learn that he was still free. Lucario didn’t know whether Aaron was the hero he had thought he was, or selfish and controlling like he was inclined to believe now, and it was hard on him not knowing how to treat him. Ri thought it would be hard, but he agreed that they should probably go back.

_I… think we should go back,_ he said.

_Are you going to be OK with Evelyn?_

Ri nearly felt sick; that was a definite sign he wasn’t OK.

_I don’t know._

_We won’t be able to avoid her this time._

“It might work if we stay in the town,” Red suggested. It seemed like a fine idea, but Ri already sensed Two wasn’t sure about it.

_If she hears about us, she’s going to come and look for us. It’s not exactly easy for us to be unnoticed._

“We could disguise ourselves again. That worked before.”

Ri shook his head.

_Disguise yourselves?_ Lucario asked, confused.

_Red has an ability: Illusion, which lets him appear as anybody he wants. Two uses his power to trick others into seeing what he wants them to see, and I do something similar. It helps us go unnoticed when we don’t want to be recognized._

_If we’re going to go back, we should face what comes boldly._

Ri noticed Lucario was being assertive; he almost felt like throwing a little party recognizing it, but it didn’t seem like the appropriate time. He focused more directly on what Lucario had said, and he found that he basically agreed.

_I just want to be myself; I don’t want to pretend to be somebody else._

_Alright, that’s what we’ll do, then._

“We’re all going to be fine seeing Evelyn again?”

_Probably not,_ Ri said, _but that’s not going to change if I look like Ri the Lucario to her or some random Rotan or Kantoan visitor._

Ri felt himself worrying; he didn’t want to have to worry about going out. He remembered being terrified of going out, and he hated Evelyn – technically, humanity – for putting him in that position again, for showing him yet again that they weren’t trustworthy and for trying to dehumanize him _again_.

Ri looked to Two; he sensed Two worrying about him again. That was a sure sign that he needed to let go of it. It was hard, but he tried; he didn’t want Two to worry.

_Is there a time we should go back?_ Lucario asked, somewhat pointedly refocusing them.

_Any time?_ Ri said. _It might be nice to prepare a bit, first, so maybe not for a few hours._

_It’s fairly late,_ Lucario said.

_That’s fine,_ Two said. _If we look for a hotel, we can settle in before having to deal with Rota too much._

_I noticed that you and Ri seem to like the night time. I have found it hard to get used to; I am used to waking with the sun and going to sleep when it sets._

Ri wasn’t sure how to take that – Lucario seemed somewhat bitter about it, but it didn’t seem like he was jealous of Ri and Two. It was small things like this which made Ri wonder how OK Lucario was. But other times he had fun, and he didn’t always seem bitter, so it made Ri wonder what state he was in.

_It can be difficult adjusting your sleep schedule,_ Two said. _We’d have a hard time if we had to get up early and go to sleep early._

_I do not plan on trying._

Ri wondered a bit what the problem was, then. Perhaps it was just that he had been _forced_ to get up and sleep at that schedule. Ri easily did the same sort of thing, but he also had Two to help him remember to let go; Two hadn’t guided Lucario that way, showing Ri a little more clearly that Two did it for _him_ as opposed to just doing it. Two cared about Ri substantially more, so it made sense, and it also worked with their narrative: they weren’t going to try to control how Lucario felt about things, while Two took a more active part in how Ri felt about things when he reminded him how he should act.

_If it is not too late, we can go when it is dark,_ Lucario said, demonstrating to Ri that he was able and willing to concede with them.

Luckily, it was later in fall, so the sun set fairly early. They went back to Rota at a reasonable time for Lucario, but also when it was dark like Ri and Two wanted. They found a hotel, and convinced the person at the desk to let them have a room, and also to keep quiet about their being there. It let them know that it didn’t seem like they were wanted, so they hoped that they could make it fairly unnoticed. They went to their room and explored it, finding it passable, but also with little chocolates on the pillows which Ri was lucky enough to get to eat by himself since Lucario wasn’t interested. They settled down for the night, and prepared themselves a little more to face the next day.

The next morning, they awoke to a day which seemed fairly normal, despite their anticipation of bad things happening. Ri almost expected guards to come in and haul them away in the middle of the night, but he was relieved when it didn’t happen, mostly because he didn’t have to worry about it for today anymore. When they visited the first time, the whole town had been in a festive mood, but roaming around looking for a place to eat, they could see that things were back to usual again. There were surprisingly few people who recognized them, which was confusing, but also highly preferable to the alternative. They found a cafe, and introduced Lucario to coffee. Lucario was tentative at first; it seemed like a ‘human’ drink to him, and he _still_ tended to feel like it was ‘wrong’ for him to do ‘human’ things sometimes, but Ri and Two were able to reassure him and also explain that because of his steel typing, he didn’t have to worry about being poisoned like Two and Red did. It didn’t stop either of _them_ from enjoying coffee, too, but Red had a ‘kid’ size coffee, and Two was happy enough tasting some of Ri’s coffee, since he was especially sensitive to it, and Ri didn’t want the whole of his (small) coffee, since it could make him hyper. They paid when they were ready, and went to do something else.

Next, they spent some time walking around Rota. It was quite calming, even among the people, and it helped Ri feel more comfortable with Lucario. They hadn’t talked _too_ much except for teaching Lucario reading and freedom, but now, Lucario had generally ‘caught up,’ and they could be more normal around him.

_How does Rota… work, exactly?_ Ri asked, as they were walking around. He saw all these people who weren’t a part of Kanto, and he wondered what the castle and Evelyn actually _did._

_Rota exists to protect the Tree of Life. You can see it far in the distance from the castle._

_But how does Rota work as a country?_

_I have read about your notion of government; your sense of individual liberty is incredibly modern, which is why it was so confusing to me at first – I am thankful to have woken up in a time which affords me such things. But, in Aaron’s time, only Kings and Queens were ‘free.’ They were the ones who owned, and they owned whole kingdoms. Everyone else was not so lucky._

Ri noticed that Lucario had adopted their terminology. For instance, Grovyle’s world was ‘Ri’s’ world; it was the world he came from. Yet, Ri didn’t consider it his world since he felt he belonged on Two’s world. Hence, it was “Grovyle’s” world, and this world was “Ri’s” world.

_Evelyn is Rota’s ‘Lady,’ Rota still works the same?_ Two asked, interested as well.

_I do not know. If it does – it sickens me that there would still be humans who exercise this ownership of others._

The only way, Ri thought, for Evelyn’s ‘ladyship’ to continue was if it were more ceremonial than functional. Likely, Evelyn was probably there more for her people rather than a true ruler over them. The way she told the guards they could be ‘fired’ seemed to go along with that idea; Ri doubted that a true Queen would ‘fire’ her guards, so likely they were privately contracted.

“And the tree… what is it?” Red asked, though they kind of knew already.

_Why do you ask these questions? I can sense that you already know. I looked at the movies you keep; one of them is a story about a Lucario like me and the Tree. I read about it; do you expect me to sacrifice myself to save the Tree and be with Aaron?_

Everyone else was silenced. They felt bad and called out. Ri took a moment to think about it, forcing himself to because his mind went blank at first.

_We do not necessarily know what’s going to happen,_ he said. _From the moment we met you, the story was different. And things are not necessarily the same here as they are in that story. No, we don’t expect you to sacrifice yourself; if something like that happens, it seems that we should easily be able to handle it together._

_I thought so,_ Lucario said. _It was just amusing to see you all worried._

Lucario let them all figure it out for a moment before continuing. It was relieving to hear; Ri figured Lucario could easily feel betrayed if something like that happened.

_I realized that you have trouble sensing Lucario, Ri. You project your own feelings onto us because we can sense them from you. You are a little too much like Two in that regard, but I see how it helps you battle. I would like for you to teach me, and perhaps I can teach you how to sense Lucario without being confused._

Ri looked to Two, a little bit unsure.

_Sounds fine,_ Two said, but of course it wasn’t just about that. Lucario was perceptive; Ri still wasn’t used to it. His criticism was disturbing to Ri; Ri liked being like Two, and he didn’t want to feel bad being like Two. The criticism made him question himself; he had to retreat to Two to help. Two understood, of course, but if Two was OK with it, Ri didn’t see any reason to be hostile.

_We’re OK with that,_ Ri said. Lucario looked between them, seeming to see the interaction between them.

_Then, about the Tree. I do not understand it myself, but I was told that it is a sort of rock formation._

“With a forest growing on it.”

Lucario shrugged – something else he picked up from them.

They passed a little too close to the castle since they were distracted – Ri sensed somebody become interested in them. Two sensed it too, and Lucario did, from them.

_We need to go,_ Ri said, so Red knew, too. They made sure to disappear again, dashing out of view so that the guards couldn’t follow them.

_They will probably start looking for us, now,_ Two said. Ri wasn’t looking forward to it; he didn’t want to worry.

… _Follow me._

Intrigued, they followed Lucario through town, until he stopped running. He looked around a little bit, then found whatever it was he was looking for.

_In here,_ he said, crouching down to enter a nook between a couple buildings. They followed in after him, and he brought them to a small little room, hidden from sight and seemingly knowledge. It was a tight fit for all of them, but especially Two, with his height, seemed squashed in. To fit them all in, Ri sat in front of Two, so that Two was crouching over him and sitting around him. It was quite intimate, but Ri wished Two didn’t need to be so crushed.

_It’s a little small for you, isn’t it?_ Ri said, smiling a bit, deciding to find humor in it.

_At least it’s funny for you; it’s a bit uncomfortable for me._

… _I forgot how small it was._ Lucario said.

_It’s been 1000 years; it’s amazing that it’s still here at all. Likely, the houses around it were expanded, and this just got smaller since nobody cared about it,_ Two said.

_I… used to come here when I wanted to hide from Aaron and avoid responsibility._

Ri sensed Lucario fall back into the past, remembering Aaron, before he shook it off. He missed it, Ri could tell, but the new influx of information he’d learned made it confusing for him. He liked it at the time, and though he missed it, he hated the situation, seeing now that it enabled Aaron to eventually force him into the staff.

_He… never got too mad at me when I did that, despite everything I have told you about how his world worked. I thought he cared for me._

Lucario didn’t need to discuss it; Ri, Two, nor Red bothered with it.

_It’s a nice place to hide,_ Ri admitted, seeing how he might’ve liked having a place like this to hide from Ash when he was betrayed. It nearly brought _him_ back, but he focused on the feeling of Two behind him instead, and managed to keep from it.

_The Tree,_ Lucario said, _I do not know if it has a forest. Aaron told me it was alive, but I have never been close enough to sense it._

That was a part of the movie Ri admittedly didn’t understand. He didn’t know how a rock formation could be alive, and he didn’t know what aura had to do with it all. Theoretically, the tree would have aura if it were alive, but how could a rock be alive?

_Have you met a Mew?_ He asked, instead, hoping to discuss something sensible.

_I was not aware of a Mew. I had heard stories, but I did not know who they were until I managed to research it on your computers._

_We were kind of hoping to meet her while staying at the castle,_ Ri said. _If we’re not at the castle, it seems like we’re not going to see her._

_Could be a him,_ Lucario said. Ri shrugged this time.

_True._

_If you meet Mew, you think she will let you visit the tree?_

_I don’t know – I don’t even know if we want to visit the Tree. In the movie, it was visiting the Tree that caused it to get hurt in the first place, but we’re pokemon, and we’re not planning on harming it so it might be OK._

_As long as we don’t bring any humans with us,_ Lucario said, making Ri and Two laugh darkly.

They waited for a little while, long enough (they hoped) for guards to do a sweep of the town.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they got out, but it was kind of fun hiding for a bit. They stopped talking, instead letting themselves feel the coolness and moment of hiding from authorities. Ri even took a short nap leaning on Two behind him, which was rare and odd for him. Him sleeping basically stopped any chance of the others interacting though; he only noticed it when he woke up, and felt a little bad for it. Out in the open, Two stretched himself out, complaining of soreness though he tried his best to be comfortable. They looked and sensed around, and were happy to see that nobody was looking for them; they had managed to outwit them. Ri knew they had to be a little more careful, though, especially since Evelyn probably knew they were around, now. Ri hoped she’d stay out of their way as long as they didn’t try to live in her castle again, but she’d been so insistent there that he didn’t know what would happen.

_I apologize for the hiding spot; it was too cramped for us,_ Lucario said, stretching himself, too.

_It’s fine,_ Two said. _It was nice being close to Ri._

_We could’ve done it without being cramped, too,_ Ri said. Two shrugged.

_At least it was you,_ Ri said. _I don’t mind being cramped with you,_ he continued. Two smiled this time, making Ri happy.

_We should escape to the forest,_ Lucario suggested. _Too many people._

Ri and Two were OK with it, but they looked to Red to see what he thought.

“I’m fine with that.”

They went to the forest, hoping that there wouldn’t be anybody looking there for them. They didn’t sense anybody, so as the sun set, they let themselves feel calm and free, as opposed to stuffed and scared, as they had been all afternoon. They practiced again, and this time Lucario joined in again, and Two tried being more careful with him, hindering him a bit, but it wasn’t a problem for him to compensate. After that, Lucario surprisingly stayed up with them pretty late – later than they noticed he’d been going to bed – and didn’t complain. They were sitting on the forest floor, nearly meditating for a while, until Ri started to find it hard to concentrate, and wanted to talk, instead.

_We noticed you’re staying up,_ he said. _We could go back soon, we don’t need to stay up longer._

Lucario shook his head.

_This is something I never shared with Aaron; we always went to sleep with the sun,_ he said. _I – want to develop new memories that do not make me think of him. Here, in the forest, I see that it is not unpleasant to stay up. The nocturnal pokemon make it alive even though it is not obvious, and the relative peace does feel calming, though I always liked being able to see the brightness of the daytime._

_Two and I like this a lot,_ Ri said. _It helps us calm down if we’re feeling stressed, or helps to balance us if we’re not feeling OK. The quiet gives us space to decompress and figure stuff out without feeling panicked to come up with a solution at the moment._

_I like brightness, too,_ Ri continued, _but it always seemed more meaningful to me in the darkness. I like signs and lights and fluorescent colors in the dark, like you might find in human cities._

– _Like a torch flickering in the night?_

_I like that, too, but a neon sign is flashier._

… _You should be cute more often,_ Two said, quite off-subject. It was enough to embarrass Ri.

_I can try – but you need to, too._

_You mean I’m not always cute?_

Ri felt his ears go down, having been outsmarted. Ri usually did find Two cute – just sometimes not in the moment, like when he was being angry.

_I’m_ not _always cute?_ He asked, turning it back on Two.

_It’s the same way it is for you – it’s not always easy to see the cuteness in the moment._

Ri could accept that. Basically, what they were saying was “don’t be worried or bothered; it’s harder to see you as cute that way,” which was perfectly valid.

_I’ve never seen two male pokemon make such an adorable couple,_ Lucario said, making Two blush with embarrassment, too.

“Really? They’re all I see – it’s nice to have someone around who isn’t so cute all the time.”

Lucario looked sharply at Red.

_I can be cute, too – Aaron used to say that..._

“Are you sure you weren’t as interested in Aaron as they are in each other?”

Now Ri and Two both looked sharply at Red, making him realize he perhaps didn’t say the best thing. It didn’t seem like Lucario heard, though – he was remembering, and at the same time feeling the same turmoil of emotion. Increasingly, Ri sensed him get angry, not at Red, but at Aaron.

_You had no right to do that to me! I trusted you, cared for you, but in the end I was just your possession like every other pokemon!_

He ran off, leaving Ri unsure whether or not to feel hurt by that. He didn’t think about it too long, though; instead, he and Two jumped up to run after him to make sure he didn’t get himself in trouble. Red jumped up too, so they ran after him. Ri and Two caught up to Lucario fairly easily, but Red was left a bit behind, so Ri and Two tag-teamed following Lucario and guiding Red. Lucario went through the forest, seemingly without direction at first, but they left the forest and entered a clearing – the same one, Ri realized, that they’d gone to that first night Lucario woke up. It was probably the place Aaron had confronted him and put him in the staff. Lucario knelt down on the ground again, crying yet again.

_Why did he do it?_

Ri sighed. He knew why the movie Aaron did it, but there was no proof that this Aaron was the same. The thought made him look around for the time flowers that were such a convenient plot device in the movie. None were around, which was somewhat unfortunate, since it _would’ve_ helped to be able to see what had actually happened. They trusted Lucario on what happened to him, but for everything else – nobody knew. Ri realized that he hadn’t seen any sort of time flower at all in Rota – it made him feel validated to think that they were a ridiculous concept.

_I want to speak to Evelyn._ Lucario got up to go back to the castle, but Ri and Two ran (Two floated) to him and touched him to make him stop.

_Wait,_ they said, together. _You’re distraught,_ Ri continued _; it isn’t a good idea to see her now. Come back to the hotel, and we can see her tomorrow morning._

Lucario turned around, and they sensed he was about to lash out, but he restrained himself – he remembered that they had done nothing like Aaron had done, and that they did not intend to force him to do anything.

_We don’t want you to see her alone; Ri has to prepare himself to see Evelyn. We think that it will be better for all of us to wait until tomorrow,_ Two said.

_Fine,_ Lucario said sharply. _But I want to go to bed now._

_That’s OK,_ Ri said. _After that I need to rest, and knowing now that we’re going to see Evelyn in the morning, the best thing I can do now is sleep on it._

Red finally caught up to them; it was time to bring him into the loop.

_We’re going back to the hotel; we’re going to see Evelyn tomorrow._

They let him catch his breath – they never needed to do that to speak.

“Can you teleport us, at least, so we don’t have to keep walking?”

_Sure,_ Two said. It meant they could go to sleep more immediately, anyway. They disappeared, and reappeared in their hotel room, and as promised, they all went straight to sleep. In the morning, they woke to find Lucario somewhat calmer.

_I apologize, I almost claimed that you were like Aaron last night. Unlike Aaron, you did not force me to come back with you last night. And, unlike Aaron, after doing that, I feel better now. You were right; it was not good to see Evelyn so agitated._

Ri wasn’t sure how to take it; he thought over it the night before, and he realized that Lucario was incredibly close to yelling at them for being like Aaron. Even that thought made him question himself and wonder if he was just a pokemon who abused others; he didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if Lucario had actually said that. Lucario had caught himself, but it was _so_ close…

_Ri? We should go see Evelyn,_ Two said, softly, meaning basically to let go of it, at least for the moment.

_OK. I need to think over this, though._

_I understand,_ Two said.

Ri shook his head to clear it, and thought about Evelyn instead.

_I hope I’m ready to face her._

_I hope so, too._

They both knew: there was no way Ri could be ready.

“Is it time, then, to go?”

_I guess so,_ Ri said, feeling nervous. Nervous enough to feel nauseous, but perhaps that was the feeling of preparing to approach Evelyn. He really didn’t want to, but Lucario needed answers, and Lucario couldn’t do it alone, either. Ri had Two, at least, to protect him; Lucario didn’t have anybody like that, but at least hopefully all three of them going with him could help him feel more comfortable.

_You are an amazing Lucario,_ Two said.

_It doesn’t feel like it right now._

_I know. That’s part of why I feel like I have to remind you._

Ri sighed. _You know I trust you – I guess I have to trust that, too._

Between Lucario and Evelyn, Ri wasn’t feeling great at all. On the one hand, he felt threatened by Evelyn, who had tried to reduce him like every other abusive human, and on the other, Lucario who _almost_ told him he was like those abusive people. It almost made sense in his mind – he wasn’t really a great mate to Two, making him be so supportive all the time.

_You aren’t like Haxorus, Ri. Lucario said it himself. Please, do not doubt yourself like that. I can barely take it when you doubt yourself other ways._

_I – I trust you, Two._

Ri broke down crying – nearly hating himself for it, putting Two in this position yet again.

_I don’t deserve you, Two, I haven’t done anything to support you._

_Ri, I never mated you because I thought you deserved me,_ Two said, fairly sharply for once. _Do you remember telling me that?_ Ri nodded – of course he did. _I don’t think I deserve you, either – you love me so much more than I ever thought somebody could love me. You. Are. Not. Haxorus. You are a pokemon who feels bad needing help from others – do not let yourself convince yourself that it is wrong to need help. I don’t help you because you force me to, I help you because I love you. Because I promised to when we mated. You have told me all this, too, when I needed to hear it. Please do not forget everything you have done for me, too. I understand that it feels like all your bad outweighs all your good, but it doesn’t, Ri, and if it did – I’d still love you anyway, because loving you is a choice I made, not a feeling I felt. You do not abuse that, Ri. You are not the sort of pokemon who abuses others. Trust me on_ that, _please. ~~So you can feel better again._

Ri was scared – he never heard Two be so sharp, then suddenly so defeated. He broke out again, feeling bad for putting Two in that position, but it helped him snap out of it. It helped him see himself a little bit more truthfully, and it also stopped him from thinking about himself. He started thinking about Two again, and realizing that he was making Two worry a lot, he wanted to stop. It made him feel sick inside, but he wanted to trust Two, and at this moment, it meant believing that he wasn’t like his abuser. Not too long, he was feeling a bit better.

_I’m so sorry, Two. I made you worry so much._ Two seemed better now, too, so he hoped that it was going to be OK.

_I can help you when you doubt your own self-worth,_ he said, much more calmly and softly. _It was scary seeing you doubt that you are a loving, caring pokemon. If you do that, I don’t know how I can show you that you are. If you convince yourself that you are abusive, I do not know how I can ever convince you to trust me that you’re not._

_I don’t want to do that, Two. I hated that; I hate it worse than feeling sorry for myself. I still don’t feel right, I want to go home._

_Should I go with you?_

Ri was surprised Two was asking, but given the circumstances, he thought he could understand.

_I don’t know what I’d do without you,_ he said, even though it almost made him feel sick again to say. Two didn’t answer this time; it didn’t seem appropriate to him to do that.

_Ri, I’m sorry –_ Lucario said, but Ri needed to cut him off.

_You have to be careful what you say, Lucario. I can’t go with you to see Evelyn, I need to go home and be alone with Two._

_Ri –_

Ri looked to Two, surprised that he’d interrupted him.

_Abusive pokemon don’t feel bad for not being able to help others when they physically aren’t able to._

Ri sighed, finding some sort of comfort in it. He could sense how scared Two was – it didn’t make sense to Ri that Two would be scared if it were _true_ that Ri were abusive.

_You’re right, Two. You’re right._

“Go home,” Red said. He almost said something else, but he withheld it, given what Ri had just gone through. “We will be fine.”

_Thanks,_ Ri said. _I’m sorry, I wanted to help you more._

Ri wondered how much he meant it. That was something he had to figure out with Two.

_You have helped a lot more than you realize,_ Lucario said, but Ri couldn’t help but wonder if he was just saying that, even though he could sense that it was genuine. He needed to get away – to go and figure it out alone, safe with Two.

_Can I hug you?_

Ri saw that Two really must’ve been scared – rarely did he ask, and usually, when he _did_ ask, it was because Ri had felt violated, and didn’t want to be touched.

_I want to hug you, Two._

Two came and hugged him, and teleported them home to figure it all out.

#  \--––—Chapter 9—––--

Lucario didn’t know what he’d done. Ri and Two seemed fine, then, suddenly, they weren’t, and they disappeared. He knew Ri didn’t want to see Evelyn, but he seemed prepared to face her, and now, he and Two had abandoned him just as Aaron had… just, he reminded himself, they didn’t lock him in a staff.

Living with these pokemon was… odd. They challenged much of what he knew of pokemon. They expected humans to treat them like humans; Lucario remembered pokemon being beaten for likening themselves to humans. Given, the human masters who did that to their pokemon were considered mean, but they were _not_ outside of their right as masters to do it.

Weirder yet, others _accepted_ that they expected this. Lucario didn’t know what to make of it at first, but as he learned from them, as he read about the concepts of individual liberty and rights, he started to wonder how _any_ pokemon accepted servitude. The thought of humans beating pokemon for wanting their own lives was suddenly perverse to Lucario when, what felt like a couple days ago to him, it was common and given.

It was confusing. Lucario didn’t know what was right, but he did know that these concepts mattered very much to these pokemon. What happened to them to make them that way, Lucario didn’t know, but Lucario saw how inviting they looked to himself simply because of Aaron. For Ri to cut off a person entirely for calling him ‘it’ as opposed to ‘him’ seemed drastic, but whatever happened to Ri must’ve been so extreme that he couldn’t handle even that.

Was he doing that to Lucario now, too? That consumed his mind now, watching Red look back at him confused, as well.

… _What just happened?_ He asked. Red had been distant, compared to Ri and Two, but Red was distant from them, too – Lucario wasn’t sure what he was doing living with them. Perhaps, he considered, the other two were so close to each other that _anybody_ was relatively distant from them. Red took a moment to think about it – Lucario was distracted by Red’s long mane and the blue bead holding it together, which still confused him when Red finally replied.

“I don’t know. Ri is like that. If he’s hurt, he needs to go away and work through it.”

_Why did he abandon us?_

“I don’t know if they abandoned us.”

_They just left…_ Lucario wasn’t sure how that didn’t mean they were abandoned.

“Ri…” Lucario could sense Red was trying to figure out what to say. “Has a hard time trusting himself. I don’t know what happened this time, but it seemed like he was doubting himself again. It’s… always a dangerous time between them, and to deal with it, they had to remove themselves. I don’t know if it means they won’t be back.”

Lucario still wasn’t sure about it. Ri was OK, then suddenly not OK. It was like he was triggered, and Lucario didn’t know what caused it.

_Is it something I did?_ He asked, since that seemed like the only likely thing to have happened.

Lucario tried thinking through it, trying to identify _something_ that could’ve set Ri off like that. He couldn’t find anything.

_I don’t think I did anything._

“You said you almost compared Ri to Aaron.”

_I told him I was wrong to think that. I did not mean to do it, and I do not think that now,_ Lucario said, defending himself. It seemed like Ri wouldn’t have responded like that to him if he specifically said he _wasn’t_ like Aaron.

“You put the thought in his mind,” Red said. “I don’t understand it myself; Ri doubts himself to the point of feeling like he’s unworthy of Two. It’s something about what he experienced.

“I learned… it’s hard for Ri to shake things off. I’ve said some pretty bad things to him that really hurt him. I think… that made him feel much the same things he’s feeling now. Two got _really_ mad at me for doing it. They’ve forgiven me, now, and Ri was OK after that. I think he might be OK again after this, too, but we need to give him the time he needs to figure it all out. He’s with Two; he’ll be OK.”

That made Lucario feel somewhat hopeful. Two _was_ with Ri; Lucario couldn’t see how they could break up. Two would keep Ri safe, and help Ri. Lucario wondered if he was just hoping that, or if it was true, but he didn’t know what else to think, what else to hope for.

_It’s wrong of them to do this to us, we didn’t do anything._

Lucario saw Red get tense; he didn’t know what he’d done this time, either.

“Careful; I thought that, too. Somebody told me that fairness doesn’t work the same with somebody who is abused. You can’t expect someone who is abused to act normal; that is unfair to them.”

Lucario saw; he felt the same way about it. He was angry about Aaron, so, for a moment, he wondered if Ri and Two were being like Aaron when later, he realized he was completely wrong. That wasn’t fair of him, either, but seemingly it _did_ set Ri off to a dangerous frame of mind.

_He needs to realize that I’m in the same position, then, too._ He said, seeing the situation for what it was. Perhaps he was wrong to do that to Ri, but Ri needed to do the right thing, too.

“I think he will; just give him time.”

With that… Lucario hoped that Two could get Ri through it. If anything, it was up to Two to help Ri see all this. If anyone, after what Lucario had witnessed between them, it was Two who could get through to Ri.

_It seems I must let go of it. They are not with me, but I would still like to see Evelyn._

“I don’t see why we can’t see her, it might be easier without Ri and Two there.”

_Perhaps._

Before, Lucario would’ve just gotten angry at Evelyn if she did anything he didn’t like. Now… he didn’t know. Ri and Two had shown him that there was a fine line between protecting his own rights and stepping on somebody else’s. He’d seen Ri shut down twice when he felt threatened and heard of another time from Red; he seemed to deal with it by withdrawing and protecting himself to avoid the line altogether. Lucario wasn’t sure what was right, and he somewhat relied on Ri and Two to show him. He convinced himself he could figure it out himself; he understood the concept and cared about it; he understood from Ri and Two that he had to care about it for other people, too.

“I suppose we should do it, then.”

Lucario led Red back to the castle; it was still strange walking through Rota and thinking that it was altogether a different time. He could see it more, now, that Ri and Two had made him aware of the extent of his powers. Aaron had never shown him the things Ri and Two had; Lucario wondered even if Aaron was aware of them. It was strange to Ri that humans should be sensitive to Aura, so it was perhaps something that was not as natural to humans as it was to Lucario. Aaron had always used those gloves when he sensed Aura; maybe they enabled him to do it.

But, while Aaron didn’t see thoughts and emotions, Lucario could now, and he sensed them from the people around him. Many of them were confused, wondering what a spare Lucario and Zoroark – Red had said he was – were doing seemingly without a trainer in sight. Some were scared; apparently dark types were still sometimes seen as ill omens, but Lucario also had to remember that Red was foreign to Rota, and the people were unfamiliar with his kind. Many others – the vast majority of the humans he sensed – were going about their daily lives. The information he saw was mostly mundane and uninteresting; he wondered how Ri filtered through it all to sense what he wanted to, because it was beginning to be too much to Lucario. He tried to ignore it; he’d gone without it for his whole life, and at the moment, he didn’t need it, so slowly, the thoughts and emotions faded away.

After that, he looked up to the castle, which was now just a short ways away. He guided Red around to the front of it, and he saw several guards eyeing them, noticing who they were. The castle was weathered and beaten down, but Lucario was surprised it was still standing after 1000 years. He remembered fearing for it when the armies were marching upon it –

The war. It was a bloody thing; too many pokemon died in it. It would have been appalling, even to the humans of this age, who had somehow managed to find general peace between themselves and pokemon. Lucario was lucky enough to be part of Rota, and also a servant to the right hand man of the Lady. Aaron didn’t battle; he stayed and protected her, and that was Lucario’s job, too.

Lucario started thinking of Aaron again, but it wasn’t long at all before he reached the gate and was stopped by a guard.

“Halt! There are no pokemon allowed in the castle!”

_Move aside, mindless Mankey, Evelyn will surely want to see us. I was protecting this castle before your grandfather was born; I fought in wars waged before Kanto existed. It was my duty to protect this castle; it was my home before my master betrayed me._

The guard stepped aside, unsure of what was happening. He let them through, at least, so that was dealt with.

“That was a little dark. Too much information.”

_It is a silly rule,_ Lucario said. _Many pokemon lived here, all of them servants to human masters. For once, I wish to walk here freely, and in defiance of those humans centuries ago and these humans now._

Lucario continued on, leading Red into the castle. The hall was just inside, so surely, Evelyn would be waiting there. He continued on to it, and saw that in fact, Evelyn was sitting in her throne at the far end of it. The hall was absurdly long; it took over a minute to walk to her. That was something Lucario always noted about it, but it didn’t bother him until now.

“Lucario! Red! I’m surprised to see you!” she said, impatient to get on with whatever she wanted to say. “Where are Ri and Two? I’d hoped to see them, too.”

“They aren’t here; they needed to deal with some things,” Red said, knowing better than Lucario what to say.

“Shame, I wanted to apologize to Ri for disrespecting him. Lucario, I’m so happy you came back, I had worried that Ri and Two would keep you from me.”

Lucario didn’t care for any of this; he just wanted to know about Aaron. If it weren’t for his confusion regarding him, he felt he’d leave and never return. He did notice, though, that Red doubted Ri would accept that apology if he were here to hear it.

_Tell me about Aaron,_ he said, wanting to get straight to the point.

“I’d wanted to tell you when I first saw you, since this must be so confusing for you. The story goes that Aaron, upon seeing that the armies were about to start their fighting, went to find a way to stop the fighting. It ends in him somehow sacrificing himself to save Rota.”

_Where am I in this story? I was with Aaron, I was the one who told him that the armies were marching on each other!_

Lucario was angry; the humans had written him out of the story. His allegiance to this kingdom culminated in absolutely nothing; it left him forgotten, it left his loyalty to them meaningless.

“You disappeared along with Sir Aaron; Lady Rin may have assumed that you met the same fate.”

Lucario didn’t like what he was hearing. He couldn’t believe Aaron had saved Rota. If he had… why did he trap Lucario? It was his job to protect Rota, too, so if Aaron were intending to save it, surely he would have brought Lucario, too.

_Aaron was the one who trapped me in that staff! He left me behind because he abandoned Rota, and I would have protected it!_

“Lucario, be reasonable,” Evelyn said, with an edge in her voice. “Aaron must have been as loyal to Rota as you say you were. There must have been another reason for him to trap you.”

_Why would Aaron trap me and save Rota himself? I – cared for him – I would not have abandoned him!_

_Perhaps that’s why he did it, to keep me in the service of these humans,_ Lucario darkly thought. _Because he knew that I would follow him and betray Rota, too._

Lucario was done. Evelyn must have been wrong, the humans must have created the story to deify Aaron, meanwhile forgetting about him. Like Aaron, they were self-centered, too, and Lucario only saw it now, only after having been betrayed by somebody he cared for. He didn’t care for these humans anymore; he could see now why Ri and Two were so wary of them.

“Lucario, you’re going too far! You don’t know any better than we do why Aaron did that, or what he did after!”

Lucario was shocked out of his mindset, still unsure of what to think. He looked to Red, wondering if he _was_ going too far.

“See? When you listen, I can help you. Pokemon have trainers for this reason; they sometimes don’t understand things on their own.”

Lucario looked to Red again. He shook his head; Lucario sensed the meaning of it. “This isn’t OK,” it said; it wasn’t fair or right of Evelyn to say that. Whatever moment of clarity Lucario had was lost in anger toward Evelyn for trying to assert herself over him. It made him feel like he was right in the first place.

_You aren’t my master. The only human I truly trusted died long ago, after betraying me and his kingdom._

“Do you not still have allegiance to this kingdom? Are you not still a servant of the throne?”

_My allegiance to your kingdom broke when Aaron broke my trust in him. I do not consider myself a servant to you; I am a free pokemon!_

Lucario could see Evelyn was upset, but perhaps she did believe in these new theories of individuality. Why she wasn’t applying them to Lucario – Lucario did not know.

“You don’t get to tell us what to do – you aren’t our trainer or master,” Red said. Lucario was grateful he was taking his side.

“You weren’t a Rotan citizen; you have no obligation to this kingdom. Lucario was; he is still bound by the pledge he made to his Lady,” Evelyn said, sharply.

_My promise was made in good faith! It was made for a person whom I believed cared for me! That person betrayed me; Aaron broke the promise before I did! You have no right to tell me I am bound by anything!_

“Lucario, be careful!”

Lucario didn’t hear; he was already powering up an aura sphere to throw at Evelyn. He didn’t sense Red moving, either, but suddenly, soon after Lucario released it to attack Evelyn, Red appeared in front of it and was blasted away by it. He fell to the ground, unable to think for a couple moments from the pain of Lucario’s aura sphere, but he remained conscious. In the meantime, Lucario figured out what had happened, forgot for a moment about being angry at Evelyn and humanity in general, and went over to Red to make sure he was alright.

_You fool, you know that I am strong against you. Why did you jump in front if it!?_ He asked, still pretty upset.

“I wanted to stop you from doing something you would regret, and I know that aura sphere doesn’t miss! Now, let’s go before something else bad happens!”

But Red hadn’t gotten up yet. It left Lucario standing somewhat awkwardly between Red and Evelyn.

“Sir Aaron saved our kingdom, he isn’t the traitor you think he is! If he trapped you in that staff, he must’ve trapped you to save you, too! Think of that next time you feel like crying over it, you ungrateful dog!” Evelyn ran away, scared now of Lucario, but also furious. He didn’t care; Evelyn was being just as bad as Aaron, if not worse. Lucario could barely think clearly; between Ri and Two abandoning him, Evelyn telling him he was underneath humans and trying to subjugate him again, the suggestion that Aaron had _saved_ him, and Red getting in the way of his aura sphere to save Evelyn… it was overwhelming.

“I’m sorry, I forgot you couldn’t teleport. In a bit, I can get up.”

Lucario barely heard. He knelt down, unsure how to deal with everything he was feeling. It welled up as a confusing storm within him, and he was immobilized by anger, so he could barely think through any of it. He didn’t notice Red sit up beside him, watching him.

“Lucario, I’ve never seen Ri like this before. I’m scared, because it seems that you’ve been through the same sort of thing he has. If you’re anything like Ri… you need to let it go somehow. If you want to be angry – battle me, or at least find somebody who can defend themselves. But… Ri would cry, he would break down until he’s exhausted. I think it’s OK to do that too.”

_Crying now feels like I’m giving up._ Lucario was barely able to get it out, only because he thought he felt that response within him somewhere, and he said it to fight it back down. _It’s what weak pokemon do when there is nothing else they can do._

“Perhaps, but I don’t think Ri ever gives up. I think it would destroy him to do that.”

Lucario felt it coming – there was no stopping it. He realized that he was speaking quite badly of Ri – somebody he respected. It all hurt too much, he couldn’t hold it in by remaining angry. Instead, it manifested itself in tears, in pain, in grief. He weakened, leaning forward since his back couldn’t support him anymore.

“Crying about it seems to help Ri acknowledge that something hurts. If it hurts, Lucario, cry. Crying is better than being angry. If I learned anything from them, anger doesn’t help you. What helps is crying.”

Lucario sought Red; Red seemed to be OK with him being like this. He didn’t want to cry into nothing, so he cried into Red instead, though Red tensed up uncomfortably. He didn’t move – for once, perhaps he was happy to be able to help, even if he was still uncomfortable with Lucario.

Some time later, Lucario resurfaced. He leaned up from Red and looked around – it had turned dark. It surprised him nobody had bothered them in the hall; it was the main place Evelyn would stay and meet her subjects. Red was still sitting with him, but he hadn’t slept or anything, at least as far as Lucario was aware.

“Feel better?” Red asked – Lucario sensed he genuinely wondered.

_I do not know,_ Lucario said. _It still hurts._

“Is it more manageable?”

Lucario nodded. Red didn’t seem surprised; he must have seen that a lot with Ri. Now, after crying amorphously for a long time, everything seemed packaged and organized in Lucario’s mind. Ri and Two didn’t necessarily abandon him, he remembered – he waited, and hoped that they would figure it out and come back feeling OK. Evelyn… she didn’t know any better than Lucario what Aaron had done. She had disrespected him again anyway, and overreacted yet again to him; he didn’t really care what she thought anyway. Aaron… Lucario couldn’t see how Aaron was a hero. Heroes, in Lucario’s understanding, didn’t betray loyal pokemon. Aaron had his trust, and he was unworthy of it. That hurt the most, even more than anything else so far.

Lucario finally realized what he’d done to Red. His Aura Sphere was strong; it was impressive that Red had withstood it, but it surely wasn’t easy for him, given his typing.

_I apologize, Red. It was wrong of me to try to attack Evelyn._

It was hard for Lucario to say; he still wanted her to pay for saying those things to him. However, with a clearer mind, he could see that he had intended to violate her own rights; he regretted it, and saw how foolish he was for thinking he’d be able to keep to himself.

“You’re not alone, Ri and Two have nearly done the same. Humans don’t seem to know when they’re pushing too hard.”

Red seemed to share his opinion of it, though he had been a human once himself.

“You can be scary, Lucario, to humans. They can’t protect themselves like pokemon can.”

_Why do you feel you have to remind me?_

“I have to remind Ri and Two often. They get agitated because of something some human does, and when they vent it, those people don’t understand that they caused them to be like that. All they see are strong pokemon looking threatening. They forget because they are only threatening because they are being defensive – they already feel threatened.”

_I did not attack her to defend myself,_ Lucario admitted, wondering how this all applied to him.

Red shrugged. “You didn’t scare me away. She was scared; it still applies.”

Lucario remembered, all Red had said at first was that he could be scary. He saw it to be true; Evelyn quickly ran after he attacked her.

Lucario stood up, stretching, and watched as Red did, too.

_It must have been hours since we have eaten,_ Lucario said, realizing that he was hungry.

“I was thinking about that before, but it didn’t seem appropriate to bring it up at the moment.”

– _Thank you, for staying with me,_ Lucario said, awkwardly. _I sensed that it was uncomfortable for you._

“You aren’t like Ri; it’s easier for me to help you. With Ri, I feel like he’s going to fall apart if I say something wrong, but you seem more intact.

_It seems that your experience with them did affect your relationship,_ Lucario said.

“We’ve forgiven each other, but it makes it hard for us to trust each other certain ways, and it is awkward for me around them sometimes.”

Obviously, it was best not to pry. Lucario had noticed that the more open they were about their mateship, though, the more awkward Red tended to be. He remembered what they had discussed while still living in the castle – it still amazed him that they managed to be friends after doing something like that.

_Shall we eat somewhere in the town?_ Lucario asked, hoping perhaps to try a human restaurant.

“I’d rather go back to the hotel room. We can’t pay for a meal without Ri or Two, anyway.”

_They should come back soon._

“I hope it won’t be too long.”

_To the hotel, then._

Lucario led Red back out of the castle, and back to the hotel room. The darkness now reminded Lucario of the night before. He liked staying up at first, but now, it just reminded him of hurting Ri enough to drive him away. It would be hard for him to enjoy it again until he knew what happened with them.

He was distracted by other things, anyway, to think too much of it. He saw people walking around, looking at them worried, since it was apparently scarier to see trainerless pokemon at night – or, perhaps, they had heard of his trying to attack Evelyn. They all thought Aaron was a hero; it sickened Lucario to see. He was glad when they were back in the hotel room; he didn’t have to see it anymore.

Red portioned out food for them – enough to make up for the meal they had lost while Lucario was crying. Lucario fetched for himself water, since he felt quite dehydrated, trying to figure out how to hold it in the glass containers humans drank from. At the moment, he needed both his paws to do it, but somehow Ri had figured out how to use one paw. As he watched Ri use his computer, or play games with Two, Lucario saw how maladapted their paws were for human devices. He wondered how Ri used any of it at all, but it became apparent that Ri was using his Aura like Two used his psychic powers; evidence, Lucario learned later, of how Two had taught Ri how to use Aura.

He retrieved his bowl from Red, and sat in the common area with a spoon. He held it awkwardly in his paw and tried using it to eat the pokemon food, but it was difficult enough for him to give up on his dignity and eat directly from the bowl. Encouragingly, upon seeing it, Red put his spoon down, and ate with his mouth, too.

_If you do not mind eating like a ‘pokemon’ eats, why bother yourself with the utensils humans use?_ Lucario said, not bothering to stop to catch his breath since he didn’t need to to speak.

“Sometimes, it’s easier to use the utensils,” Red said, stopping just so he could talk. “Some things are too big, so we need to cut them up. Or other things aren’t pleasant to hold. We only really use them when we eat human food.”

_Then why have we been using them for pokemon food?_

“I think Ri and Two wanted to show you that you didn’t have to be ‘under’ humans anymore. Humans eat with these things; there’s no reason we can’t, too. If you understand that, I don’t see why we can’t just eat however we want.”

Lucario saw Red’s point. He finished his bowl, only stopping when it was empty, feeling rather stuffed after eating it all at once.

_Aaron would never have let me do that,_ Lucario said. _Even if he let me have that much food, he would make me eat it slowly._

“We didn’t eat at all for lunch, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”

_You do not think Ri and Two would mind us eating like that?_

“They’d probably have fun doing it with us, and laugh at each other for having crumbs in their fur, then they would clean each other off. They aren’t stuck up; they don’t really care how we eat or sleep or do things.”

_Why have we been acting like humans all this time, then?_

“I think they wanted to be sure you didn’t think they held themselves higher than you. And they wanted you to see that you don’t have to avoid doing things like humans just because you’re a pokemon. Also, I think doing some things reminds them of being treated less than they were, so they prefer to do those things like humans so they don’t think about it.”

Knowing what he did, Lucario thought that they likely raised themselves to the level of humans because they felt they deserved to be treated like humans. Whether or not they thought lesser of pokemon for not being like that, Lucario wasn’t sure, but they didn’t seem like that sort of pokemon.

They cleaned up after themselves, and settled down for the night, guessing that Ri and Two probably weren’t coming back yet. The room seemed empty when they went to sleep, even though Ri and Two just occupied one bed in it. Lucario didn’t understand why Ri and Two slept together; it seemed to be unpleasant, but Lucario also never had a mate to share one with. Even their concept of mateship was fairly human – Lucario didn’t think they realized this. Perhaps it was something particular to Lucario that Lucario was unaware of. Ri had seen several Lucario packs, so he knew better what ‘wild’ Lucario were like. Lucario did know that his kind was considered to be loyal, so perhaps they were loyal in mateship, too, but Lucario did not always see the same loyalty in other pokemon.

Lucario also remembered Ri speaking of “Grovyle’s world,” and he remembered the explanation he and Two had given of alternate universes. The concept still confused him, but he gleaned that Ri seemed to come from one of these other universes, and Lucario had to admit it was possible that pokemon where he came from _did_ have a human concept of mateship. Two seemed loyal to Ri, too, so it didn’t matter that Ri was odd for a pokemon, if Two was odd, too.

Lucario finally fell asleep, wondering how nice it actually would be to have someone next to him to share himself with. He then cried himself to sleep in the confusion of Aaron.

In the morning, they woke up to a day that wasn’t special in any way. Ri and Two were still gone, so there seemed to be nothing to do. They ate breakfast much the same way they had eaten the night before, and were just about to go to the forest to do something other than sitting and thinking, but Two appeared suddenly, looking somewhat disturbed, worrying Red and Lucario.

_Red, Ri can’t come back today, but he wanted me to come ask if you are OK._

Lucario could sense Red wasn’t sure how to react.

“I – why would he feel like he needs to make sure I’m OK?”

_Are you OK?_ Two asked, obviously unwilling to explain.

“It’s fine if he needs to – is he doing OK?”

_I need to get back to him._

Two disappeared again, leaving them alone again, confused, in an awkward silence.

“It would have been nice to know if they’re coming back,” Red commented, still processing it.

It didn’t seem good if Two was being so harsh with them. Lucario sensed he was worried; he didn’t seem to want to be away from Ri for long, so he wondered if Ri was doing well.

_I didn’t mean to hurt him so much._

“Two hasn’t left Ri alone since Cipher; they’ve always been together. I just don’t think Two wanted to leave Ri behind long because it affected _him_ not being able to be there for Ri when he needed it. I even remember Two being worried when he woke up and Ri wasn’t there beside him but in the same room.”

_Then perhaps it could still be OK._

“If Two is _willing_ to leave Ri, even for a moment, I think Ri is going to be fine.”

Lucario hoped that was the case.

“Come on, let’s go to the forest. It’s not worth sitting here and worrying and thinking all day.”

Lucario saw sense in the suggestion, so he let Red lead him out of the hotel. They went to the forest, and practiced a little, though it was quite one-sided between them, even though Lucario tried holding back. Red stopped the battle soon in, seemingly dissatisfied.

“Ri is a strong Lucario, I don’t think he holds back that much when he attacks me.”

_How strong?_

Ri didn’t come across as a strong Lucario; he didn’t seem to overpower opponents in fights. He was incredibly resilient to Two’s attacks, but Lucario figured that was an effect of his training more so than his sheer power.

“Do you know how strong Two is?”

_I have felt his attacks; they are disorienting, but they do not threaten me._

Red shook his head. “He’s going easy on you. He doesn’t go so easy on Ri, but Ri can take them. He’s almost killed Ri before, even though Ri is relatively strong against him for a fighting type. I don’t even think he was trying his hardest when he did that.”

_What does this have to do with Ri?_ Lucario asked, not quite getting the point.

“They consider themselves to be as powerful as each other. I think, between them, Two has the advantage for his typing, but against a type which is equally vulnerable to both of them, they think that they are equally strong compared to such an opponent.”

That was still hard to visualize. The way Red had put it… Ri was strong against Two for a Lucario, but it seemed that Two could still really hurt Ri if he tried. Then, compared to a normal opponent, they were equally powerful? Lucario didn’t quite understand it. But, Lucario could sense from Red that they were powerful. He decided to trust him on it.

_I am not used to holding back; perhaps they are better at it than I am._

Red shrugged – that was a behavior Lucario had to get used to. He’d adopted it, though he was somewhat uncomfortable with it. It seemed to communicate indifference; Lucario didn’t really know a better way, so he decided to use it, too.

“They say they do it all the time when fighting others. I always felt it was patronizing, but they insist that it’s better to defeat opponents gracefully rather than making complete fools of them.”

Lucario didn’t understand either, but he also did not understand yet how powerful they were. He imagined a king engaging in a contest of strength with a young man. The king could easily employ hundreds of strong men to crush the young man in such a futile thing, but a kind king may face the man himself, even to the point of being bested by the young man though he owns all the power and the strength of the kingdom. If Ri and Two were so incredibly powerful that they could crush any opponent, then Lucario could understand how they might choose to hold themselves back. In the circumstance there was no power behind them to back them up, Lucario could see how it might be patronizing. But, like the king, who has the power and the right to wield it – however much Lucario hated the idea of it now – holding back would be seen as humble and thoughtful.

_I do not have to hold back, either, but do not forget what happened yesterday._

“Ri and Two have been trying to teach me to withstand fighting type attacks, too; I need practice, because it isn’t as intuitive to me as it was to them.”

_How do you expect to withstand an attack you have a natural weakness for?_

“They said it’s more about the mindset than innate strengths and weaknesses. Our types form a triangle of sorts because we all think different ways when we fight, and those ways have natural advantages and disadvantages to each other. Ri is trying to teach me how to think like a fighting type so I’m not so disoriented by his attacks, but I don’t even think he understands it all that well himself – Like Two, he finds himself disoriented by my attacks even though he’s a fighting type.”

Fire burned; nothing about Lucario’s mindset changed that it hurt more for him than it did for other types. He wasn’t sure what Red meant, but he had to admit that Ri was stronger against Two than he was. Perhaps there was something to that idea.

_Fighting types fight with will and strength. They practice so that they have the coordination and constitution to fight. They train in forms to internalize the motions so that when they battle, they do not have to think about how to battle._

“When I was learning to battle as a pokemon, Ri and Two had me practice to learn the mindset of a dark type. Later, they had me internalize that, too.”

_But fighting types do not internalize mindsets; they internalize physical actions so they do not have to think about reacting._

“I think Ri thinks all the time about how he’s fighting. I think he reads his opponent so he can react directly to them.”

_Only psychic types do that._

Apparently Ri had figured out how to use his ability to sense Aura to battle. Lucario had never considered that; it was apparent now more than ever that Ri had learned from Two.

_Then there is maybe more to this theory than I thought, if Ri thinks like Two and is weak to you._

Red nodded. “I understand what he’s trying to teach me, but I haven’t been able to apply it mid-battle, yet.”

_Training as a fighting type doesn’t happen mid-battle,_ Lucario said. _It happens before, when there is time to teach the muscles how to think for themselves._

Lucario saw he had Red confused; perhaps Ri hadn’t done so well to teach him as he thought.

Lucario spent the day trying to train Red, testing out the theory Ri and Two seemed to be trying to prove. He had to admit – he wasn’t the best fighting type, either – but Ri learned _everything_ he knew from Two, so even his understanding of fighting types was through Two’s perspective, and Lucario at least had a more natural, direct understanding of it. He brought Red through it again, lending dimension to Ri’s understanding. He had to admit – Red understood it well for a pokemon; in his experience, pokemon tended to be unchanging, _especially_ of the types he, Lucario, Ri, and Two were. That thought itself lent credence to the theory; the thought styles were so deeply ingrained in them that they couldn’t cope with styles that overpowered theirs. Red, however, seemed somewhat pliable, and understood what Lucario was telling him quite readily. They did very little fighting, but he saw the value in the exercises they were doing, even if they didn’t help him much as a dark type. Perhaps Ri and Two would be better able to adapt these exercises for him, but now that Red had a little more comprehensive understanding, Lucario thought he might do a little better at withstanding him.

They stopped in the middle for a snack, looking for berries again in the forest and luckily being a little more successful than they had been the first time. They had visited old forest this time – the places Lucario was familiar with – and berry bushes still existed where he expected them to, though it was quite late in the season to pick berries. After, they went back to the hotel and showered, which was something Lucario decided he enjoyed about modern technology, even though it required him to soak himself in water. Once they were clean, they followed the same schedule they had the night before, but they were finished earlier than they had the night before, so they were left sitting in the empty living area again, without much to do other than think.

Lucario thought about Aaron – besides Ri, that was basically all he could do if he wasn’t doing anything else to distract him. It was beginning to become tiresome and sickening – he didn’t want to keep thinking about Aaron the rest of his life. He needed to know what happened, so he could at least feel at peace knowing _why_ he was betrayed. He brought it up with Red, just so he could feel like they were getting somewhere with it.

_I want to go to the Tree of Life. I need to see if what Evelyn said about Aaron is true or not._

“I’m sure that’ll be OK; I just think we should wait for Ri and Two to get back.”

They still weren’t sure whether they _would_ be back, but Lucario wanted to remain hopeful on that, too.

_It will be hard, but I can wait._

“We’re stuck here anyway, without them, and we can’t pay for anything when they aren’t here. They need to come back for us either to stay, or to bring us back with them.”

Lucario noticed that it didn’t seem to be a question in Red’s mind that Ri would forgive him; he remembered that in Red’s experience, he had. What would happen was still unknown to Lucario, though, and he wondered if Ri and Two, if they did forgive him, would let him continue exploring these things he felt he needed to. He felt like he deserved it – like how Ri needed to go away to process what had happened to him.

Now, Lucario’s mind wandered to Ri. Ri must have been quite affected, to be _unable_ to see him and Red for longer than a day. He tried not letting himself feel guilty over it – he reminded himself that he’d done nothing wrong, but something lingered in the back of his mind telling him to feel bad for it. He understood what happened, he thought, so he wondered why he was having this feeling.

_Why do I feel sorry for what has happened to Ri? As far as I can tell, it isn’t my fault, but Ri acting like this is making me feel like it is._

“It’s confusing. I think Ri might be confused now, too – I think he understands you did nothing wrong, too. But it’s just the way it is. We just need to wait, and let him be if he comes back. He’ll approach us if he wants to talk about it.”

_What if I want to talk about it?_

“You’ll risk hurting him again. Sometimes – unspoken exchanges are what you need to understand each other and move on. It seems to happen with them a lot because they can sense.”

Lucario could see. It was just a little frustrating that Ri wasn’t there for them to have _any_ sort of exchange.

_I am not doing myself any good remaining awake; I should try to sleep,_ he said, realizing that it was rather late now. He was tired, anyway, and he somewhat hoped to rise early to train properly with Red.

“You’re welcome to, I’ll sleep when I’m ready.”

With that, they went to sleep.

The next morning, Lucario did wake up early. Red was still sleeping, but Lucario didn’t question waking him up. He went to him and shook him awake, since he remembered that his mind-speech didn’t wake others up.

“Why’d you do that!?” Red said, up and smoothing out his fur and irritated.

_If you’re looking to learn to be a fighting type, you get up when most fighting types get up._

“I have a sleep schedule; you don’t make a fighting type by forcing them to disrupt it. Ri understands that.”

_Do you wish to learn how to think like a fighting type?_ Lucario challenged, confused why Red was upset with him when it seemed that was something he wanted.

“I’m not a fighting type pokemon, Lucario. I’m not exactly nocturnal, but I’m not diurnal, either. I _naturally_ tend to sleep during the day. Ri and Two might be like you, but they prefer the night, so he and Two stay up, too, but they never make me sleep when they want me to; they let me sleep when I want to.”

_They haven’t put you through the rigorous training fighting types go through to battle the way they do; this is why you haven’t mastered it, yet._

“Perhaps, you’re probably right, but that wasn’t the right way to go about it!”

Red went away, but not like Ri did. Lucario had pushed Red away now, too – but at least Red didn’t disappear. Lucario sat with his own thoughts for a little while, thinking over and trying to understand why Red was so upset. When he thought he figured it out, he sensed how Red was feeling, and decided to approach him about it.

_I apologize, Red. I see your point. You are not a fighting type pokemon, so I can’t expect you to adopt fighting type habits._

_I see now why it has been hard for Ri and Two to teach you; they have recognized this, and are trying to find a way to help you to understand without making you change your habits._

“I perhaps should not have been so upset with you,” Red said. “Because of Ri and Two, I care quite a bit about my personal space. You were a little too close, and you didn’t ask or at least even warn me.”

_I understand._

If only it could go that well when Ri returned – Lucario hoped for that to happen then, too.

“Now that we’re up; we might as well train. I’m not going to be able to get back to sleep anyway.”

_Ok; we’ll do that, then._

They went out to train immediately, choosing to hunt for more berries for breakfast even though berries were becoming even more scarce as wild pokemon took them for themselves.

Then Lucario started training Red again, drilling him in the forms Aaron had taught him, and teaching him the discipline fighting types trained for to battle precisely. He tried to be more sensitive, though, and didn’t push Red past what was natural for him; he tried a little more to find something that would integrate with how Red liked to think, even though he didn’t particularly understand when Red started explaining how he battled himself.

Mid-training, when Lucario was considering it was time to break for a little while, he sensed a familiar presence, forcing him to break early. It was Two – he’d returned again, this time somewhat less worried than he had been the day before, but Lucario could sense that all was not yet right.

_Red – We feel bad that we left you stranded, but Ri needs more time to decide how he feels._

“It’s alright, Two, Lucario is helping me train more to resist fighting type attacks.”

_I could sense it; it seems good. He can help you in ways that Ri and I can’t._

“It would be nice for you to decide what’s going to happen. Lucario and I are left in limbo here; our hotel bill is racking up, but we can’t pay it, and we can’t really do anything when we’re waiting for you.”

_We will see tomorrow – we have to take this day by day._

Two wanted to go back to Ri, Lucario sensed, but Lucario couldn’t let him go back this time so quickly. He sensed him about to teleport back, but he managed to anticipate it, so he interrupted him.

_Two – let me speak this time before leaving us again._

Two looked irritated – but he stayed, and looked to Lucario to hear what he had to say.

_It is hard. It feels like Ri doesn’t trust me, but it feels unfair when you work around what feels unfair to him and ignore what feels unfair to me._

For a moment, Two seemed distracted; Lucario guessed he was talking to Ri. When Lucario sensed their Auras, they were entangled with each others’, so it was hard to tell what was happening between them.

_We haven’t worked through it yet – we don’t know what’s going to happen. Ri is strong, but I will not push him if he can’t._

With that, he disappeared, leaving Lucario and Red alone _again._ He stayed to explain, at least, but his answer was vague and cryptic, and it didn’t really tell him whether Ri was OK or not, or how Ri felt about it. Lucario remembered Red saying that what was right was relative when it came to cases like Ri’s; Two seemed to be operating under that paradigm. If what was best relied solely on Ri’s ability to forgive Lucario or not… Lucario was still left clueless and guilty.

He felt he had to forget it and try to remain hopeful – as Two had said, it wasn’t finished yet, and they hadn’t decided. What made it so hard for them, he didn’t know, but it did seem clear that Ri wasn’t _sure_ about how to deal with it.

_Let’s keep training; I need to do something so that I stop thinking about Ri._

“Fine, but we need to break soon. I am exhausted, and it’s hard trying to understand everything you’re telling me.”

They went back to it, skipping over the break Lucario had meant to have. When they finally did break, Red was definitely exhausted, but he managed to do it, so Lucario felt he had it in him to be a fighting type – or at least emulate it enough to withstand the attacks when they hit him and have a fighting chance against other fighting types.

After their break, they practiced a short while to put Red to the test, but he tired quickly, so they decided to go back to the hotel. Back, Lucario was surprised to sense, to Ri and Two sitting and waiting for them.

_Ri and Two are back – it seems they don’t want us to be surprised._

“Great – I hope that this all works out.”

_I do too._

#  \--––—Chapter 10—––--

Ri and Two talked for a long time when they got back home. Two helped Ri walk through himself, determining what abusive meant and whether Ri was exhibiting that. Ri went through a complete self-reflection, allowing Two to reflect for him when necessary and also correct him when he started saying things that weren’t true. He had to re-evaluate himself to see why he helped others – why he felt so indebted to Two, or why he felt bad not being able to help Lucario, stuff like that. Two was able to explain things, helping Ri figure it all out again. They sat up for hours doing it, but eventually they had largely worked through it, and they managed to talk about light things, which was a great relief to Two.

It helped that Ri felt like he was _trying_ to improve himself, that he was being helped by Two, but doing the work himself, rather than relying completely on Two. Two was intimately linked with Ri, too, so Ri nearly implicitly trusted him since Two felt almost like a part of him. It helped afterward that Two was calmer and less worried – he could see that it didn’t make sense that Two would be calm if Ri were abusive, given the circumstance that Two was worried when _he_ was worried that he was abusive. Even if it hung in his mind (but _does_ it make sense Two would be calm?), Ri could sense Two as part of himself. He allowed himself to be convinced that Two couldn’t trick him into thinking he was OK with something he wasn’t. He sensed further, and he realized too that he had to remember that Two had been abused, too. He had been subject to the same sorts of mind games that Ri would’ve been playing with him if he were abusive. For Two to _still_ care for Ri now, if Ri were abusive – Ri made himself trust that wasn’t possible. He hated wondering – he wanted to stop wondering, and be able to feel sure. They were trying to go to sleep, but it felt important to Ri to get out.

_I want to care for you truly, Two. I don’t want to question myself anymore._ Ri even wondered if he should question that – it sickened him to feel this; he just wanted to feel OK again. He wondered if that was abusive, too. He almost hated himself for it; why couldn’t he just love his mate?

_Ri, I want to help you through this. I don’t know exactly how to this time, but I do._

Ri gulped, unsure of what he was saying. _I want to trust you, Two. I want to believe that everything you’re telling me is the truth. I trust you that I’m not abusive._

_Can I hug you again?_ Two asked, still feeling like it was important to be careful.

_Yes,_ Ri said, appreciating the care Two was giving him – choosing to believe that it wasn’t wrong of him to accept it. Two hugged him, and Ri did feel comfort in it. He allowed himself to.

When they woke up, Ri thought perhaps he was feeling better. Calmer, clearer, more normal. Doubt still nagged in his mind, but now it seemed a bit crazy to him that he’d been so doubtful and confused the day before. He realized he’d always doubted – he always wondered how much he deserved Two’s love. He always tried to be worthy of it, but Two always tried his best for him to understand that it didn’t work that way. He remembered finding Two in the dark realm, how he had helped Two through much the same thing, how he had managed to reaffirm his caring for Two then; it was strange now that he had to reaffirm it to himself.

_Two?_ He asked, wanting Two to be up, too. He poked him, too. When Two was visibly awake, Ri jumped on him and hugged him, hoping to convey that he was feeling quite a bit better.

_I love you, Two. I want to be there for you – I want you to know that I care for you._

Now, with a little perspective, Ri felt more OK, more sure that he meant that, happier with himself since he believed he meant it.

_I love you too, Ri. I care for you, too,_ Two said, hugging him back.

Ri could sense Two was relieved. He was happy – did abusive pokemon feel happy to this degree when their partners were doing well? He wanted Two to be happy, he wanted Two to be content and feel loved. He felt he sensed from Two those things– for now, he had to trust that that was the case. It seemed nearly silly, now – he could see for himself for once that worrying about being abusive was somehow a form of caring – even if it wasn’t the best. He felt that he had to watch himself, and be sure, but he wanted to believe that he cared.

_I can’t go back yet,_ he said, but that was more because Lucario was a trigger now, like Evelyn was. Ri could barely think of Lucario without thinking of everything that had happened to him.

But, Ri felt relieved. He wanted to enjoy the day with Two – but he was also exhausted, and still tamped down from all the worrying and self-doubt, which even now still lingered. He realized it was something that was always there, though – something he always wondered about. He managed to work through it in the past, he remembered, so he hoped to get through it again this time, too. It meant a lot to him that he wanted to reach that normal again with Two; he didn’t know what he would’ve done if somehow, he’d pushed Two away. He started thinking about what would happen if he’d done that – the thought of it scared him and he didn’t want to think about it any further.

_I’m sorry, Two, I was so close to pushing you away. I don’t want to do that – I don’t know what I would do if I betrayed you like that._

_Don’t worry about it now, it didn’t happen,_ Two said. _I still want to be with you, Ri._

Already, that brought back shadows of what had happened the night before. Ri fought them off – he didn’t want to believe they were valid anymore. It put Two in a weird spot – Ri totally understood.

_It’s OK. I want to be with you too, Two. I want to help you._

_Same here._

Ri sighed; everything was alright. Two was right; it _was_ scary, in retrospect.

_I don’t want to doubt you, I don’t want to doubt myself,_ he continued, trying to reaffirm that. _I’m upset that I was so easily brought to doing that._

_We never faced that before. I’m happy we’re getting through it; we’ll both be stronger once we do._

_I look forward to that,_ Ri said.

_I’m glad; I do too._

Everything… seemed alright. They went to make themselves breakfast together, and though fraily so, everything went OK. They needed time to settle – there was no way they would go back to Rota today. Ri realized that that left Red and Lucario stranded there… and then he felt that he needed to make sure Red was OK with that. It was scary, but he asked Two to go and make sure, and moments later, he returned with a positive answer. It left them free to try to enjoy themselves; Ri tried composing for a bit, but decided that he needed to do more things with Two, so they spent the rest of the day together, talking, playing, eating, even laughing, feeling close to each other. It helped dispel from Ri’s mind thoughts of abuse; he did not believe that they could have so much fun together if they did not truly care for each other and respect each other. They went to bed more calm, sure, and reassured. The next morning, Ri almost felt everything was normal. He recognized this time that it still wasn’t – he remembered feeling normal after Haxorus but realizing that everything was still wrong during their trip to Galar – but he felt stronger and more sure. They were eating breakfast again, considering what to do.

_I still don’t think I can go back to Rota,_ he said, once Two was awake too and they had said good morning to each other.

_Red is going to wonder again._

_I – can’t face Lucario knowing he could do that again._

_I think our mateship is strong; we can get through it together._

_I don’t think I can care for him anymore; if I see him again, I don’t think I’ll feel anything; that scares me._

_Only because you will be holding back other things you don’t want to feel._

_Perhaps – I still don’t think I can do it._

_OK,_ Two said. _But Red is still stuck with him, and Lucario doesn’t have anywhere to go._

Ri had nearly forgotten about Red after Two saw him yesterday. He sighed, unsure about everything except Two in front of him.

_I don’t know what to do._

_What do you want?_ Two asked, attempting to help.

_To forget about it; to not have to worry about it anymore._

_We can’t do that, Ri,_ Two said, knowing Ri understood.

_I know. I just – don’t feel right leaving Red behind, but I don’t feel like I can face Lucario. I can’t stand it, Two – I hate feeling like both choices are the wrong choice._

_I can go see how he feels about it._

_That would be helpful; that’s not too much?_

_No, I don’t mind doing this._

_Just – don’t be too long. I don’t want to be alone._

_I’ll be as quick as I can._

Two disappeared, leaving Ri alone for a little while. _Never_ before had he done this, but now _twice_ in _two_ days he had. Ri sensed him talking to Red – and then also Lucario – but he wasn’t physically there anymore. Ri wondered if that’s how Two felt before Cipher; if he was this aware of what Ri was doing. How hard was it for Two to go on with his day when Ri wasn’t there with him? Was Two as dependent on Ri as Ri was on him? Was that fair to Two?

_It was hard for me too,_ Two said. _Very hard._

Ri was relieved – if it wasn’t just him, then it was probably OK.

_I’m coming back in a moment,_ he said, making Ri anticipate him coming back and nearly forget about it all. Soon, Two appeared again, and Ri didn’t have to worry anymore.

_It was like this for me, too._

_I’m sorry I made you worry so much._

Two shook his head – _at that time, I had to let go of you. Afterward, I needed to keep you close. Things changed, and now we stay together. I don’t mind it, it’s hard for me to let you go now._

_I know,_ Ri said, thinking of all the times he’d worried Two by waking up before him and getting up before Two could wake up and see him there beside him.

_Red is happy you are doing better. He hoped we would come back, but I think he understood when I said we can’t. Lucario made me listen to him – he feels sorry, Ri. He said it’s hard on him that you can’t seem to trust him._

_I – don’t… know if I care that it’s hard for him._

It was sickening for Ri to say.

_Ri,_ Two said, worried again. He came to Ri and pulled him close. Ri turned his head so it was resting against two’s stomach; it was nice, being held close like this. He supposed it was partly because Two had something to say that was going to be hard for him to hear.

_Will you regret not trying to forgive Lucario when he is gone?_ He said, tenderly.

_Lucario isn’t you – I don’t feel that I should try and do that for him._

_You’ve forgiven Red._

Ri hadn’t forgotten. Somehow, Lucario felt different. Ri didn’t feel like it was his fault with Lucario, where he felt somewhat responsible with Red.

_We had hurt Red first – he didn’t say those things unprovoked._

_Lucario didn’t say anything._

Ri understood, but…

_Fine, Lucario didn’t do anything. But I still don’t think I can face him. I don’t want to start doubting myself, or you again._

_You’re stronger now already,_ Two suggested. _I can’t say Lucario will be more careful, but I can say that you are more prepared to face it again. It won’t be like the first time._

_I hope not, Two._

Ri could see now; he was more scared of facing the thoughts he’d been thinking the past couple days than he was scared of Lucario, or angry, or upset.

… _Is it fair of me to avoid Lucario just because I don’t want to face those things again?_

_I don’t know. I think that’s up to you to decide,_ Two said. It put Ri in a hard position, but it was probably good; Ri understood that it wasn’t for Two to decide that for him.

_Thank you, for helping me understand that._

_You don’t have to thank me; thank you for being honest and perceptive. It’s hard to deal with somebody who easily deceives themselves._

_I can’t – of everything, I_ need _to be truthful to myself first._

Two nodded – he understood.

_I need a bit of time – I need to decide what to do._ Two let go of him, and Ri got up to go back to the bedroom to lie on the bed and think. Before he went, he made sure Two knew he still wanted him there.

_I’d still like you with me, though. I can’t do it without you,_ he admitted.

_I’d love to be with you,_ Two said. Ri appreciated it; he always did, but in this moment, it seemed special and especially meaningful. They went to the bedroom and cuddled on their bed, Ri curling up facing Two so Two was surrounding him as he thought. It helped him to focus, but it also helped him feel safe and grounded while he was exploring these scary things Two had suggested to him.

He wanted fair – but it didn’t seem fair that facing Lucario should bring him to doubt himself again. He didn’t want that – he wanted to be sure of himself and Two. He needed to trust that, and at the moment, he was scared of opening himself and Two up to that again. He didn’t know if Lucario _would_ do that again, though, and they didn’t know if a similar situation would happen again.

_I trust you, Two; I don’t want somebody else to be able to challenge that. It’s scary to me that it feels like Lucario can; right now, I’d much rather avoid him than face him and risk questioning myself or you again._

_Haxorus tried, remember? We were stronger than that._

_But this is new,_ Ri countered. _We haven’t experienced it before._

_We’ve experienced it once, now,_ Two counter-countered. _It caught us off-guard the first time. It won’t in the future._

_You’re right._ Ri sighed. _I have to trust you; I feel that being scared of Lucario isn’t trusting. I want to believe that we can face him; maybe we actually can._

_I agree; It’s scary, and it’s difficult, but we have to trust each other to get through it. The first part is believing that we can do it._

Ri went over everything that had happened to them. After what had happened just so recently, he had no intention of breaking the promises he’d made Two.

_You’re my mate, Two; I will trust you._

_You’re my mate; I will trust you,_ Two echoed back.

_In that case… facing Lucario doesn’t seem so scary,_ Ri said. Now that he understood, it did seem less intimidating.

Two nodded; Ri felt him moving through his body to do it.

_I suppose… I’m ready, then._

_Are you sure?_

Ri nodded.

_Let’s get up at least, so we don’t make it awkward for Red._

_Ok._

Ri uncurled himself, and got up with Two. It was nice being close like that, but they were still close other ways, so they could get through what was about to happen.

_I’ll teleport us to the hotel room, but they weren’t there when I left._

_Ok,_ Ri said. They teleported, and appeared in the hotel room they had rented. Two was right – they weren’t there. Ri looked around, trying to see how Red and Lucario had fared without them; Red was perhaps more inclined to be tidy than they were, so it looked pretty good. He wondered if Red actually enjoyed being away from them for a bit, but he couldn’t sense him and Red wasn’t present, so he was careful to dismiss that thought since he didn’t have any proof that was the case.

_Where were they?_ Ri asked.

_In the forest, but if we wait here, they should show up eventually._

Ri saw Two’s point; if they went out looking, they might just miss them even with their senses and not find them. If they stayed, they were sure to see them.

_Lucario should sense us, so it shouldn’t be a surprise,_ Ri said.

_Yeah,_ Two agreed.

Ri was actually kind of happy to have a little extra time, anyway. It gave him an extra chance to prepare. He was nervous, but he felt confident in Two; which he was happy about. Confident in himself – he was less sure about, but he was trying; that was better than it was just after leaving Lucario.

A couple hours later, they showed up. Ri didn’t know what they’d been doing, but he was so preoccupied at the moment they came in, he didn’t care about that as much as other things. He sensed they were relieved, though – but they didn’t even know what they were going to say.

Lucario tried speaking, but Ri held up his paw to silence him.

_Please, let me speak first._

Lucario didn’t say anything in the moment Ri gave him, so Ri continued.

_I understand that you are going through things with Aaron. I do not believe you meant to hurt me – you said that the other morning. I’m willing to trust now that since you’ve thought it through, it won’t happen again. Or – more accurately – I won’t let myself lose faith in myself – or Two – again so easily. Two told me it was hard for you; I’m sorry._

_Ri – you and Two have only ever tried your hardest to afford me the most freedom you could. I can sense that you care deeply about the pokemon around you, even more for your mate._

Ri didn’t care particularly for what Lucario was saying – he didn’t need Lucario to say it. However, it _was_ nice he was saying it; it reaffirmed in Ri’s mind that that’s what Lucario meant, since Ri could sense he was being sincere.

_It was wrong of me to even consider otherwise of you._

_Right and wrong are sometimes relative,_ Ri said, shaking his head. _You are dealing with Aaron; maybe it wasn’t fair to us for you to do that, but it is understandable. We went through a lot, too. It was wrong of me to doubt myself because of that, but I hope you understand, too._

_I understand._

Ri felt somewhat relieved; he nearly felt like celebrating with Two, but he refrained from it, since he thought it might be awkward for Red and Lucario.

_I’m happy, too; it would be nice to share it,_ Two said.

_Before we go to sleep, maybe?_

_Sounds good._

Date set up, they could turn their attention back to Lucario and Red.

_What happened the past two days?_ Ri asked, since he didn’t know.

“We saw Evelyn when you left. We, uh… scared her off accidentally. Lucario has been training me since then, helping me learn how to resist your attacks.”

_He’s probably better at it than I am._

_You scared Evelyn away?_ Two asked, intrigued since that was the part he didn’t know about.

_I attacked her,_ Lucario explained.

_She’s alright?_ Ri asked, not actually caring too much.

_Red got in the way._

Ri could see now how the training started. He had to admit it was probably good for Red; Ri increasingly had to admit he wasn’t a great fighting type as Red wasn’t improving against him. Ri understood it as a psychic type, and he was trying to teach Red to understand it as a dark type, when Ri wasn’t too familiar with either type to know how best to show Red how it worked. Two was a little better, Ri admitted, but still, Two couldn’t help with the fighting type. Lucario likely was a more ‘pure’ fighting type, and could at least teach it to Red from the point of view of a fighting type, though Ri could see how that might cause some clashing between them.

_I see. You haven’t seen her since?_

_No._

Beyond that, Ri wasn’t interested. Now, it was time to figure out what they were going to do next.

_After all that, what are we going to do now?_ Ri asked, hoping a little to move beyond the awkward state they were in.

_I want to go to the Tree of Life._

_Evelyn didn’t have answers?_

_I didn’t like her answers._

Ri wasn’t surprised. The Lucario in the movie had denied it, too, until the Convenient Plot Device, the time flower showed him otherwise. This Lucario had no such record and no guarantee his life was like the movie, so he had to investigate himself to find the truth. Ri didn’t mind visiting; he kind of wanted to see Mew, if Mew existed, and Two wanted to figure out what the tree actually was.

_We’d like to visit, too._

_You are staying with us?_

Ri realized he and Two hadn’t made that clear yet.

_Yeah._

Lucario seemed relieved; it was somewhat awkward for Ri. He was happy Red was relieved, though – he felt more bad about leaving Red behind than he did leaving Lucario behind.

_When will we go?_

Ri thought about it for a moment. Lucario and Red seemed exhausted from their training, and Ri didn’t feel prepared yet to go to the Tree. It was getting later in the day, too, so they would have to cut their travelling short and sleep overnight in the wilderness. That was something he and Two had done quite a bit, but they didn’t like doing it, so they wanted to avoid it.

_It seems best to wait until tomorrow morning, when we’ve had a chance to rest and prepare,_ he said.

Ri sensed Lucario was excited; it seemed that Lucario didn’t know if that was going to happen before they came back.

Ri wondered for a moment what was going to happen to Lucario. He couldn’t stay in Rota, obviously, unless he somehow managed to reconcile with humanity, but he wasn’t sure he could stay with them, either. He stuck with them now because they made him feel safe around them, but having two guests at their house full-time was going to be overwhelming, especially when they were _still_ figuring out how to live with Red. There were several other regions they could take Lucario – but that had to be Lucario’s choice, and for now, there was no reason bringing it up since they planned to stay with Lucario anyway, at least until they saw the tree and figured out what really happened with Aaron and helped Lucario figure that out.

“Makes sense; I’m _tired,_ ” Red said. Ri noticed he glanced at Lucario – something seemed to have happened, there. Ri guessed Lucario woke Red up early. He went to lie on his bed; Ri and Two left him there to rest, and went to their own bed to relax – something they hadn’t done _too_ much of the past couple days, at least in the passive sense of lying with each other and allowing their minds to wander.

Ri was in the middle of wondering about new production techniques he could use in his music, while Two was considering how the Tree could work, when Lucario walked in on them and interrupted their time restfully thinking about nothing that really mattered.

_I thought you said you had to prepare to go to the Tree._

_We_ are _preparing. The last couple days were tough on us; we’re resting so that we feel ready._

_That sounds more like resting than preparing._

_It’s not just that – I have to come to terms with the fact that we’re doing this tomorrow. It’ll be easier for me to enjoy myself having this time now and going tomorrow than it will be if we left immediately._

_I do not understand, but I will not push any harder. I can use the rest, too, and I can not blame you for needing a break after what has happened._

Ri was somewhat annoyed Lucario had come to confront them like that; it felt as if he should be able to sense that Ri needed this break before setting out like that. He needed to get comfortable being with Lucario again, and also rest from the _emotional_ work he’d done the past two days. After Cipher, Ri was pretty low energy – he didn’t have a high capacity to handle stress or change _before_ Cipher, and Cipher just made it worse by giving him a burden he had to work against constantly. Lucario was touching that threshold when Ri was already spent; he couldn’t take too much of it. At least he went away and recognized that he was being bothersome, but it also made Ri feel bad for being bothered. He had to let it go – Lucario could probably sense that he decided not to be upset by it.

When dinner time rolled around, they got up to eat some pokemon food. It wasn’t great, after they had eaten normally for a couple days, but they managed. After that, they went straight back to bed, but at least this time with understanding from Lucario. They were about ready to sleep, but they remembered the little celebration they’d promised each other.

_That went well, Ri._ Two said, as Ri was feeling it was about time to go to sleep.

_Yeah. It was nice, being able to rest like this, too._

_It did come across a little selfish, telling Lucario that we wanted to leave tomorrow and then lying all day doing nothing._

_I know. That’s why I felt bad._

Two nodded.

_As we keep having more proper friends, we keep seeing that we’re not as great pokemon we thought we were._

_Please, Two, I don’t want to think about stuff like that right now._ Ri said. He knew they had to face it at some point, but… right now wasn’t the right time.

_Alright. That’s what we meant to do anyway._

Instead, they focused on being relieved that everything had – otherwise – gone well with Lucario. They didn’t have to worry about the alternatives, anymore, and they could focus more on moving on. They allowed that to bring them to sleep, feeling thankful that they could enjoy cuddling and sleeping together still after what had nearly happened before.

#  \--––—Chapter 11—––--

In the morning, Ri did feel ready to go. He woke up refreshed after a happy night’s sleep. He got up Two behind him, knowing they _did_ have to do a little bit to prepare for leaving for the Tree. They went down to ask about keeping the hotel room for a few more days, and came back and ate some more pokemon food. When they came back, Lucario was up, but they noticed Red was still sleeping – Lucario had learned, apparently, to let him sleep.

At first, when they went to Galar, Red had gotten upset at them for waking him up because he didn’t trust them with his personal space. Since they liked to sleep in, too, they only realized later that Red didn’t like to be woken up _early._ It made sense, when it happened – Zoroark were night-time pokemon, and Red seemed to have adopted that quality. Lucario were quite strictly day-time pokemon, so Ri wondered why he liked the night so much.

A couple hours later, making poor Lucario feel impatient, Red finally woke up, and ate. He was ready around noon, so that’s when they left, even though it was already around the time Ri and Two had returned the day before. It didn’t seem so bad this time, though, since they were rested and ready. Lucario, unfortunately, wasn’t willing to let Two fly him to the tree, so they ran on land, while Two floated beside them. It was strange, even for Ri, since Two normally walked, but on long trips like this, Two’s limbs were still relatively weak. He hadn’t been designed to use his body, he was designed to use his mind, so while he had strengthened a lot since escaping the lab, running, especially for extended periods of time like this, was hard on him.

Running to the Tree, they talked a little bit. Some about the Tree, some about Aaron, some about Two. It helped to pass the time, since it felt like it was taking an inordinate amount of time to get to the Tree. They saw it growing in the distance, eventually, the huge rock formation, and it became increasingly clear that it was rock as opposed to being a real tree.

They came across a hot spring, which they broke at for a little while to eat dinner and rest. Ri, Two, and Red tried the hot spring, but Ri quickly exited, since it was too hot for him. He managed to let his paws soak in it, though, since he had done a lot of running and they weren’t used to it anymore. It meant he could still sit next to Two, so that made him happy.

_In that movie, this is where that human said some things which made the Lucario very mad at him,_ Lucario said, sitting on the rock he remembered seeing in a screenshot of the movie. Ri was surprised it actually existed – it even had the Cheri berries the Lucario had been eating, but Lucario wasn’t eating any of them – they’d already eaten.

_That was a foolish child; it sickens me that humans would provide their young with such mentors._

Ri couldn’t disagree. Ash wasn’t particularly smart, and he was way too trusting – but he couldn’t trust Ri to save his pokemon. Instead, he trusted the poacher, and _gave_ Ri to him in exchange for getting his pokemon back, and…

Ri didn’t want to go over the rest of that story. It was making him angry, mostly at himself for trusting Ash, for thinking he could trust a human.

_I haven’t sensed this from you before,_ Lucario said.

_I don’t like thinking about it,_ Ri explained. _It brings up a lot of stuff that hurts._

_Was Ash the one who betrayed you?_

Ri nodded; he didn’t bother saying anything, because Lucario sensed it.

_Then we are in much the same circumstance,_ Lucario offered.

_Lucario, careful._ Two said sternly, sensing Ri was being bothered. Lucario didn’t have the right to assume they’d been through the same thing; Lucario was stuck in a staff, and Ri… Ri got a lot worse.

_I might understand now why Red doesn’t like when we sense him,_ Ri told Two privately. _We probably make assumptions like that, too._

Ri sensed Lucario was bothered too – it seemed good to figure it out now, than it would be to let Lucario keep thinking they were trying to compare

_We’re different pokemon. You’re right, we experienced the same sort of thing. We trusted somebody, and they betrayed us. My experience of it is different than yours – I was sold off and abused because of Ash’s betrayal – but you are also a different pokemon from me. It doesn’t matter to me that ‘you didn’t have as hard a time’ because what is hard is different for different people – you experienced your trauma differently than I experienced mine._

_And, you –_ Two started, sensing it was a little harder for him to say than it was for Ri – _you were betrayed by someone closer to you than Ash was to Ri. That’s the hard part for you, while the hard part is everything else for Ri._

Ri put his paw on Two’s shoulder, letting him know it was alright; that he supported him.

_It is just hard to compare, because while it is true the same sort of thing happened to both of us, the details are not the same. It’s hard for me to say “I had it worse” in the same way it bothered me you were trying to say “we had it the same.” We had it differently, and we were affected differently by it._

“Guys, when you barrage somebody like that, it’s hard not to feel terrible about yourself. It isn’t really fair,” interjected Red, listening to what was happening, and taking Lucario’s side.

_It’s fine – they just want me to understand. I do._

They were lucky Lucario could sense; Red would’ve been right otherwise.

Lucario jumped off his rock, and went off to think for himself a little bit. Ri guessed they were going to be staying there for the night, then – if Lucario had to deal with things, he wasn’t going to want to continue. They let him go – if he was going away, it was probably because he didn’t want them around. Ri sensed he just had to process – he thought he’d be back.

“Was he really wrong to do that? Why did you have to make him feel bad for it?”

Now, though, Ri had to face Red, and it was a complete change of mindset to do. Suddenly he was defending himself, when before he was trying to do the opposite. It took him a moment to do, leaving Red hanging for a little while.

_We were trying to tell him it was OK – that we didn’t hold it against him._

“How does what you said tell him that?”

_I was upset that he said that what he went through and what I went through was similar. It wasn’t, Red – I was raped and worse, while he was stuck in a staff for a long time. But I also wasn’t betrayed by the person I cared most about, while Lucario was. I’m angry at Ash and myself, but I have Two to go to and trust, while Lucario doesn’t have that. Lucario is left with nobody since the_ one _person he cared for betrayed him. I’m lucky that I’m not in that situation._

_I just wanted Lucario to see that I believe that what he went through is significant, that I don’t see it as ‘less’ than what I went through. It’s just not so similar that we can say we were in the ‘same circumstance.’_

“Couldn’t you just have said sorry?”

_We had to explain,_ Two said. _Saying sorry doesn’t show him the subtlety of the matter._

… _If he realizes that we aren’t upset with him, then he should be OK,_ Ri continued.

“You do feel bad,” Red said, quite perceptively.

_Of course I do; I didn’t intend to make him feel bad at all!_

Two jumped out of the spring to sit next to Ri, worried. Ri calmed down again – that _was_ a little harsh.

_Sorry. That was harsh._

“I’ll go let him know; hopefully I will come back with him.”

_That’s probably good; Lucario shouldn’t be alone,_ Ri said, guessing that Red understood.

“But where did he go?”

_He’s walking in the direction we came from._

“It seems like he wants to go back.”

Ri shook his head. _He just doesn’t want to go further forward without us, and we know the way back best._

“I will catch up to him,” Red said, jumping out of the pool now, too. He shook himself off, making Ri wet again, but Two was already soaking, since he didn’t do that himself. Then he ran off, looking to catch up to Lucario, and leaving Ri to wonder about it all with Two.

… _Did we do the right thing, Two?_

_I don’t know._

_Was it really that bad for him to compare like that? We relate to him, Two, more than most other pokemon. Of anyone, I’m the one who most understands what he’s been through, so is it really that wrong to say that ‘we’re in the same circumstance?’_

_It’s a fine line; I hope we communicated that to him._

Ri tried thinking through the moment, trying to decide _why_ Lucario had said that.

_He probably just wanted to understand what I was going through, and in a way, on a surface level, he’s right: we went through the same thing._

_But that doesn’t mean it was necessarily fair of him to make that assumption for us. And you suffered in a lot of ways he didn’t, Ri – do_ not _forget that. I was upset that he was dismissing that to focus on the ways they both were similar._

_I guess that’s true._

It was a hard, complicated subject; Ri hoped Lucario understood that it was hard to know what was right or wrong in it.

_We were perhaps both wrong, a little bit – Red wasn’t wrong in what he said,_ Two said.

_I suppose so._

It seemed settled; they were all kind of wrong. Ri felt bad for it, but he hoped Lucario would understand.

_You should dry off – you’re really wet,_ Ri said, deciding the matter wasn’t worth continuing to think about.

_Yeah._ Two got up, and teleported himself a towel – he wasn’t as interested as Red was in shaking himself off. He got one for Ri, too, since Ri had tried the pool, but Ri had been out the longest, and much of the water had cooled off already, leaving him actually quite cold. He got himself out of the spring, and dried his paws, though, before deciding that he needed to do the rest of himself, too. Moments later, they teleported the towels back home, and sat to wait for Red and Lucario. It felt like a long time, but it was only an hour or so – Ri sensed them returning and only a couple minutes away.

_They’re on their way back._

_Good,_ Two said, secretly worrying what would happen if Lucario _didn’t_ come back, but not so secretly that Ri couldn’t sense it. They just didn’t address it.

They were facing each other so that either of them could see them coming back, but so that neither of them were watching Lucario and Red walk back – they hoped that would be the least awkward for them. Luckily, Red and Lucario came back, and easily re-integrated by sitting next to them. They sat, watching the sun set a little bit, when it wasn’t too bright for them to look at, and felt relieved that everything worked out well.

_Red helped me see, Ri._

_That’s good – thank you._

_And thanks,_ Ri said, directly to Red.

_You have a good friend in Red – I do not know if you realize that._

Ri glanced at Red; perhaps they did take him for granted. It seemed that if Red wasn’t a good friend – they wouldn’t be his friend, but that didn’t mean they actively appreciated him. He was just kind of there, and increasingly, they valued him, but at first, they sort of tolerated him – that probably wasn’t fair. Ri hoped Red understood; they needed to learn to care for him and also ‘warm up’ to him, especially after what happened in Galar. Likely, Red had to do the same, so maybe it was alright. Ri wondered if Red noticed he was looking; he looked away awkwardly before anybody could notice.

_I saw, Ri,_ Two said.

Embarrassed, Ri looked to Two instead, feeling a bit bad.

_We need to think about it. It might be good to let Red know we appreciate him,_ Two said.

_OK._

Ri didn’t expect to be thinking about so many new things; it was almost becoming overwhelming to him now. They had believed that they were generally good, but Lucario was showing them that they weren’t – just the pokemon they knew were very forgiving of them. If that was the case… Ri _was_ very thankful for Red, and that Lucario was being understanding.

Then – it hit him.

_Thank you Two – so much. We’re sitting here, worrying about if we’re being fair to Red and Lucario – but you’ve been doing this for me ever since Cipher. I couldn’t be OK now if it weren’t for you – I’m so sorry that you had to go through all that for me._

_Ri…_

Two didn’t know what to say for once – he just came over, and hugged Ri, putting Red and Lucario in an awkward spot. Eventually, he seemed to figure it out.

_You appreciate me, Ri. I always knew that, even if you couldn’t know it yourself. I didn’t help you to be appreciated for it, I helped because I wanted you to feel better._

Now Ri didn’t know what to say. He wanted to be careful – he didn’t want to reopen fresh wounds. Hurting Lucario before was close enough, but Lucario didn’t seem hurt as much as unsure. Ri recognized he felt bad for confusing him – that was what was important.

_I’m thankful for you now, Two – I hope that is OK. I can see now how much you’ve done for me, I hope that it makes up for having to rely on you so heavily before._

_I just worry that you feel like you have to make it up to me. You don’t have to. Even if you couldn’t support me yourself, you wouldn’t have to. It was unfair what happened to you, too – I don’t mind if it was ‘unfair’ to me. At the time, it wasn’t right for me to demand fairness from you because you weren’t able to give it to me – it wasn’t fair to ask you to be fair when you couldn’t function normally._

_But things happened to you, too – I feel so bad being caught up in my own problems that I forgot you had them, too._

_Being able to help you helped me. You care for me; if you didn’t, you would not feel bad now._

_I... almost want to go home again._ Ri said, feeling vulnerable. As he had learned in Galar, things were _not_ totally OK, even though they were less bad than they were. They were discussing the same issue they had been for days now, just a new aspect of it they hadn’t considered before.

_I’m sorry, I promised I would stop questioning myself like this,_ Ri said, realizing that he was nearly doing it again.

_It’s not a clear cut thing – it’s OK._

Ri sighed – It was wrong for Ri to do, and Ri wanted to stop, but at least Two was alright with it. He was thankful now, and Two was able to appreciate it now, and Ri hoped they could continue more equally and more sure of themselves than they had before.

_Remember, what we’re doing now isn’t normal for us. At home, we don’t have these problems. Remember that at home, we enjoy each others’ company, and have fun and play games and enjoy doing things together. It isn’t always like this; it hasn’t always been like this for a long time._

_You’re right; we like being home because we don’t have to face them there,_ Ri said.

That was in fact why Ri wanted to go home – he wanted to forget about these troubling subjects and pretend they didn’t exist. At home, they could do that pretty easily.

_Perhaps we should go to bed,_ Ri suggested. It was a little early, but they were going to wake up with the sun the next day, and he didn’t really want to stay up to think about these unhappy things.

_Let’s at least let the sun finish setting, and let the light fade away,_ Two suggested.

_Sounds good,_ Ri admitted. They sat together, then, forcing Lucario to the other side with Red (not with intent, nor was Lucario disturbed by it), and watched the sun finish setting. Then they watched the twilight, and tried forgetting about their troubles for a little while. They talked a bit, letting themselves wind down and enjoy themselves.

_I kind of wish I could compose music out here in the wilderness, like this. Whenever we go out, we distance ourselves from technology, but the tech is nice, too,_ Ri said _._

_I’d like to see it – dubstep inspired by Rotan forests. Is there a bass growl which represents the air flitting pleasantly through the trees’ dying leaves?_ Two said, waving his paw to represent the leaves falling.

Ri laughed a bit, the thought did seem absurd when put that way.

_That might be trance. But, it’s pretty hard to depict nature in electronic music._

_I’m sure you could find a way._

_Probably, but unfortunately, I’m not too interested at the moment. I wanted to blast my EDM across the forest for every pokemon to hear._

Two laughed too. It was nice, talking about light things, especially after hard times. It made Ri feel like things could be OK.

– _dubstep?_ Lucario asked – they hadn’t realized they were broadcasting their discussion, so he surprised them.

_It’s a modern genre. The computers we use – 50 years ago, or so – people figured out they could make music with them, and that grew into a bunch of ‘electronic’ music. Some of the music I compose is electronic, and dubstep is one of those genres._

_What does it sound like?_

Lucario was familiar with music – more so than some other pokemon were. It was kind of funny to think, given that music was so much more accessible in modern times than it was in ancient times, but likely Lucario heard it a lot with Aaron.

Ri teleported himself his laptop, and also a stereo speaker he could use to show Lucario some music. He set it up, and prepared something for him, a bit of dubstep he liked. They listened to it for a bit, breaking the stillness of the forest and the fading light – it made them feel alone in it all, even though they could sense many pokemon around.

_It is harsh and grating,_ Lucario said, once Ri finally turned it off. _It is… not like the music I know._

_No, it isn’t,_ Ri said, _but it’s still similar in a lot of ways._

_Quite repetitive,_ Lucario commented. Ri nodded; that was actually quite a similarity.

_It is… actually somewhat catchy._

Whether he enjoyed it or not, Ri guessed he needed more time to decide. Dubstep wasn’t the most docile of genres of electronic music; it was pretty edgy and harsh. If Lucario showed continued interest, Ri decided he’d show him some lighter things he might enjoy more.

Once it was truly dark, they found a place to sleep, and lied down rather uncomfortably to rest for the night.

They woke up while the sun was rising; the sunrise wasn’t quite so interesting to them, especially when it woke them at an unreasonable time. They were achey, too, being used to their beds. Lucario woke up complaining, too; it was interesting to see how quickly he adapted to their lifestyle.

_I thought I remembered what it was like sleeping on the floor – I quickly forgot how uncomfortable it was._

_You probably didn’t realize how comfortable sleeping on a bed could be,_ Ri suggested.

_That, too. Aaron easily switched from bed to ground, though, and I do not understand how he could do so so easily,_ Lucario countered. If Aaron could do it – Ri didn’t know why it was hard for them.

_It is hard to believe that Red has not woken up, yet – the sun easily wakes me,_ Lucario continued.

_We’re diurnal – our bodies wake us up when it is bright. Red isn’t like that; his body doesn’t respond the same way to bright light._

_I remember, he explained to me._

– _Yeah,_ Ri said, a bit off-guard, since he had guessed already that Red had done that.

_You knew?_

_I guessed. Red looked at you when he said he was tired yesterday._

_I was wrong to try to train him so harshly. I thought you weren’t training him well, but after that I realized that you were trying to train him without making him disrupt his body’s natural cycles._

Ri shrugged. He thought Lucario was more wrong to make Red do that without asking, but at the moment, he didn’t want to push it.

_It still seems you helped him; that was better than we were able to do,_ Two said.

_You are a fighting type, Ri, but you think more like a psychic type._

_I know – Two taught me, so we figured out my powers together. We thought you’d be better for helping him, since you learned how to fight like a fighting type._

“Are you talking about me?” Red asked groggily from where they thought he was sleeping.

_Yeah – sorry._

“No – it’s fine, you didn’t wake me. The ground woke me.”

_Good morning, then,_ Ri said.

“It’ll be a good morning when I can sleep in comfort again when I want to,” he said, leaning up in pain from lying on the ground all night. Ri couldn’t really argue, so he moved on.

_We should eat breakfast and get going, so that we reach the Tree pretty early,_ Lucario said, ready to go now that they were all awake.

“Sounds good, let’s get going.”

Ri and Two went to find berries to eat, collecting some from the rock Lucario had sat on the day before, then going back the way they had come to look for more. It seemed as though humans largely avoided this land – it was _truly_ wild, which was refreshing to Ri and Two to explore, compared to the forests of Viridian or the “Wild” Area of Galar which both left them feeling somewhat cheated and cramped. They came back with berries for all of them, and teleported themselves some pokemon food, too, since the berries themselves weren’t nutritious enough for all of them, especially on a continued diet of them. They were able to enjoy the berries, at least, so the food was still somewhat tolerable, even though they were beginning to become sick of it.

After eating, they quickly resumed their running, hoping to reach the Tree before too long. If they were lucky, they would reach it early enough to explore it and find the truth about Aaron before nightfall, and they could teleport back to the apartment, shower, and sleep in comfy beds. Likely, though, they would have to spend a couple days searching the tree, since they couldn’t know where to find evidence of Aaron. Ri hoped they’d find Mew, and also that they’d somehow have someplace nice for them to sleep.

_That’s a nice thought, but I unfortunately doubt that Mew will have anywhere for us to sleep. We have to find them, too._

_I’d like not to sleep on the ground again,_ Ri said. _I like being comfortable._

_You’re free to teleport yourself a bed. It would be fairly ridiculous, though,_ Two said, guilty of making his own unreasonable hypothetical situations. It was cute enough for Ri not to be upset at him over it, thinking about them sleeping on a bed in the wilderness.

_We should at least have sleeping bags; I don’t know why we never thought about them._

_I can’t fault you there,_ Two admitted. _There’s no reason we should have to suffer too much to sleep in the wilderness._

_Let’s hope we find something soon, then._

_We’re just a little ways away – we’ll arrive within the hour._

Two broadcast that thought to all of them, so that it wouldn’t be awkward for either of them to say it after the fact. It wasn’t too late, so if they were lucky, they hoped to find something. Ri felt Lucario running faster, excited to finally arrive at the tree. He and Two sped up to keep up, but Red had to push himself – he wasn’t quite as built for running as Lucario were.

_Don’t push us too hard – Red can’t run as quickly as we can._

_Alright._

Lucario slowed down again, giving Red a bit of a break. Ri sensed he was thankful, but he didn’t bother saying it since he was busy breathing. That was a benefit of telepathy; Ri nor Two had to worry about what their mouths were doing to be able to speak. They could also project their voices nearly as much as they wanted, and also speak as quietly as they wanted, and they could also select who they wanted to hear their voice. Ri was thankful he learned it, too, since he spoke with an accent that he could hide with his mind. Two didn’t mind it either, since his true voice was weak and quiet.

It took them a little longer since they slowed down, but they couldn’t blame Two – Two couldn’t’ve known they were going to slow down. Finally, though, they arrived at the Tree. Under its canopy, though, as they were running, Ri sensed something wrong.

_Guys – we should stop._

They stopped.

_What is it?_ Two asked.

A large boom was Two’s answer, coming from ahead of them. They all looked to see it – one of the Regis was coming for them, confusing all of them.

“Weren’t they here because they were trying to protect the Tree from a human?” Red asked.

Ri didn’t know why they were being attacked, but he sensed what Two’s mind jumped to: Two wasn’t a natural pokemon. Ri really didn’t want that to be the case; Two had a hard enough time feeling like he belonged, like he had a right to live, even. They couldn’t bother to think about it now, though; Regirock was being a problem, and was aiming a hyper beam right for them.

_Watch out!_ Ri said, sensing what the Regi was planning. They jumped out of the way, not wanting to test their shields against that at the moment. They were all still safe, so there wasn’t a need to, yet.

_And the people of Rota think that Aaron came here to save them._

If that’s what he did – Ri agreed he was quite foolish to leave Lucario behind. Of anyone, Lucario was the most able to help him.

_We’re the best opponents for him – aura spheres should work well. If I can get close, I’ll use Force Palm – it could blast him down._

– _Force Palm?_

_You almost used it when you broke the glass in the castle. I use my aura to build energy up in my paw, and I release it into someone, throwing them backward._

_Ri, we have a Regi to fight._

– _Sorry._

Ri focused back on the battle. Regirock was aiming another Hyper Beam – they avoided it again. This time, Ri fired an aura sphere to test out how he would react – it blasted against him but didn’t really phase him.

_He seems slow, so it shouldn’t be hard to use Force Palm on him._

_Just be careful,_ Two said. Ri glanced at him – he meant to be, but he didn’t want to make Two worry. He sighed – unfortunately, he had to try. He ran up to the Regi, and sure enough, he could get near enough before he could do anything. He prepared a Force Palm, and hit him with it, blasting him backward. He fell, but he got back up, seemingly unbothered by Ri’s attack.

_It seems we’re going to have to run away,_ Ri said, running back to Two and relative safety.

_Perhaps so, but it might be better to run toward the way we want to go –_ Two said, smiling just slightly.

_Of course,_ Ri said. _But from out here, I can fire aura spheres safely and guide you all away._

The others were scattered, anyway – Lucario was trying to attack Regirock himself, and Red was hanging around, trying not to get hurt. It wasn’t much use for either him or Two to try to help – their abilities weren’t so helpful against the rock-type giant.

_Regirock is a tough opponent – he easily heals himself with rocks. Even if you manage to crack through them, he’ll just replace them,_ Two said. _Don’t feel bad about being useless against him._

_It’s just somewhat odd that we’re being beaten by him – we’re supposed to be the strongest in the world._

_The world may have forgotten about the Regis,_ Two said. _Anyway, I’m sure that if we both tried, we could beat him._

_Probably,_ Ri said. _We should get Red and Lucario to follow us, though – we’ll leave them behind, otherwise._

_Sounds good._

Ri called out to them, gaining their attention. Once they were watching him, he and Two started off, and they told them to follow. They lagged behind a bit, trying to avoid hyper beams, but they caught up, and they moved on past the Regi and into the tree. They stopped once they were out of sight of the Regirock, and took a moment to process what had happened.

_That Regi was a lot stronger than we thought he’d be. I’d hate to be hit by one of those Hyper Beams,_ Ri said.

“Force Palm didn’t even phase him.”

_The Tree was said to be protected, but I never imagined that it would need to be protected from pokemon. We’re as much a part of nature as this tree’s inhabitants; we aren’t a threat._

_Um…_

Ri watched Two, trying to make sure he was doing OK. He wasn’t – his tail was flicking behind him, but Ri could sense that he was upset.

_Two isn’t natural, Lucario._

_Oh…_ Lucario said, realizing and remembering.

Two seemed fine, he wasn’t so bothered by Lucario forgetting he was man-made. In fact, he _liked_ that Lucario forgot he wasn’t a ‘natural’ pokemon. It just highlighted what he was thinking: _They’re attacking us because of me._

_We don’t know if that’s true, yet – my aura is unnatural, too,_ Ri said, hoping to help.

_You’re right – you didn’t make assumptions because of that._

Two sighed – Ri could see that it was going to be tough for him.

_We’ll deal with the Regis – we’re pretty powerful,_ Ri said. _They are just trying to protect the Tree. If they’d bother to know us first, they’d realize we don’t mean to hurt the Tree._

_We’re all outsiders, too,_ Two said. _They may just be wary of anybody who doesn’t live here._

_It’s annoying that movie is so badly written – we have no idea why they’re attacking us in the first place,_ Ri said.

“Guys, you’re not looking at the weird stuff that’s happening here.”

Ri and Two looked, wondering what Red meant. It was fairly obvious, once they bothered to actually see what was in front of them. To escape Regirock, they had gone underground, so they were underneath the tree, but it was obvious that it extended underground, too. They were standing in front of a large, vertical cavern, which had large bubbles floating up through it. Ri couldn’t sense them – they weren’t aura, like the movie seemed like it was trying to imply.

_They said it was a rock formation, but it was alive. Is this what they meant?_ Lucario asked, pondering what people had told him a millennium ago.

_If so – how old is it?_ Two considered. _Things that are alive die._

_Surely very old,_ Ri guessed.

“How do we get to the top of the tree?”

That was a good question, especially if they wanted to meet Mew, but it could also be a bad question, if they wanted to figure out what happened with Aaron.

_Riding the bubbles is an option,_ Ri said, remembering from the movie. _But, maybe we should find a better way if we’re trying not to hurt the tree._

_What_ are _the bubbles?_

Ri nor Two had any idea. It seemed like it was supposed to be a blood stream, but why the Tree needed that, and why they needed to ride it to reach the top was unclear.

“I don’t know about any of you. But I don’t want to spend the time searching for another way up, and it seems like it might be fun to ride the bubbles.”

Ri and Two glanced at each other – neither of them could deny that a bubble ride sounded fun, and any time they spent looking for another way up was wasted when they could be searching for Mew or evidence of Aaron.

_I guess riding the bubbles didn’t hurt the tree,_ Ri said, reflecting Two’s thoughts on it, too.

“Great!”

Red jumped out, and onto one of the rising bubbles. It didn’t pop, and he didn’t seem to be hurting anything, so Ri and Two jumped out, too. Ri fell onto a bubble, and nearly fell off again, but he managed to keep his balance on its round surface, and sighed once he felt safe again. He felt it bringing him up, which was weird as he was lying down on it.

_If this is where Aaron came… why would he want to keep me from enjoying it with him?_

Lucario spent a moment thinking about it, but he cast it aside, remembering Two’s advice about enjoying the bed, and jumped out too. They kept rising for a while, looking for an exit that would lead them to one of the ‘branches.’

Ri almost called out, wondering if Lucario’s chest spike would harm the bubble, but it seemed stronger even than that – making Ri wonder what they were for.

_Maybe they’re just an elevator service,_ Ri guessed.

_I suppose if pokemon come down, they need a way to get back up?_ Two suggested, offering a reason that might be valid.

“I think there’s an exit – I’ll try jumping off into it.”

Ri looked up, and saw Red jump off his bubble. Sensing him, he and Two knew where to go, so they jumped off, too. Ri didn’t realize at first that Red had fallen sprawled on the ground, but he and Two both did the same, having trouble getting off their bubbles. Red was saved the embarrassment; they weren’t. Lucario somehow managed to jump off gracefully, saving him embarrassment, too. They got up, and moved on as if nothing happened – they were lucky Red fell like that too, or else they knew he’d be making fun of them for it.

They moved along, continuing to search for an exit. They wondered how big the Tree could be, and how so much rock could be supported like this. Finally, they reached one, and pooled out into the sunlight, which Ri for once was happy to see. The caves, compared to the forest at night, were somewhat cramped. But, they came out into a vast forest, which they guessed would look out over the forests and plains underneath them if they reached its edge.

Ri sensed all sorts of pokemon around – he did as they were approaching the tree, but he allowed himself to feel it and recognize it, now that they were here. It was magnificent, seeing all these pokemon who all had never seen people before. Ri doubted they did know, and if they did – Aaron was as much a legend to them as Lucario was to the people of Rota. Untouched by the outside world, Ri could understand why the Regis might try to protect it from _any_ outsider – they could easily destroy it if they told anybody in Kanto about it.

Of all the pokemon – Ri didn’t sense any Mew immediately. He sensed all sorts of other pokemon, though, pokemon he didn’t think should exist anymore. Fossil pokemon: Omanyte, Kabuto, Archen, Tyrunt… all of them.

_All these pokemon – I do not remember seeing them on the surface,_ Lucario said.

_Many of them are extinct, or – were thought to be extinct. It seems that the Tree has been preserving them – if it is alive, then likely this is its purpose,_ Two said.

_Why would such a thing exist?_

Nobody knew, but it was beautiful. It seemed like it could be paradise, but paradise for Ri would be Grovyle’s world, if it became a little more technologically advanced. It was close to it, though – a place safe from any human, where they could come and decompress from just about anything.

_It’s hard to believe we didn’t know this place existed,_ Two said.

_It’s going to be hard going back to Viridian after this,_ Ri admitted.

They were in the middle of nowhere, so there were no humans for Ri to sense anywhere, and that was going to be true anywhere on the tree, and the tree was _huge._ If they ever wanted to escape, but not go so far as Grovyle’s world, they knew now where to go.

_We should start looking for Mew or evidence of Aaron,_ Ri suggested. It was nice – but he wanted to be home, too, and comfortable and clean.

_You’re right,_ Two said, making himself focus. They searched with their senses, first, trying to sift through the confusing jumble of auras and minds. Mew would likely be disguised as another pokemon, but Ri and Two could both sense through that, so they didn’t worry.

_You are looking for Mew?_

_Yeah,_ Ri said.

_I can look, too._

_Thanks._

So all three of them started looking, leaving Red somewhat lonely. They scoured what they could, but after one pass, they couldn’t find anything.

_If Mew leaves the Tree, we could miss them pretty easily,_ Ri suggested.

_Yeah. We might just have to wait._

They decided to explore the place, so that Red could have something to do. That was a way to search for Aaron, too, and they figured that if Mew realized they were there, they would come to them. They explored for a while, becoming overwhelmed by the size of the place by the time it was dinner. They gathered berries, which were plentiful compared to the surface, making them guess that was something it did, too: provide for the pokemon it cared for. They settled down to sleep, after that, accepting that they would have to spend longer to figure out about Aaron or Mew, but Registeel found them and forced them to move before they could settle down for real, making them run for an hour at an unhappy time in the middle of the night. It seemed that if the Regis were so sure about making them go away, it wasn’t the perfect paradise for _them,_ and even more, Ri just wanted to go home. He wanted to help Lucario, though – he guessed that whatever he found was going to be hard for him, so they were the ones in the position to help him through that if it did.

They spent the next day looking, too, scouring the place physically and mentally to find anything that would help them. They were lucky enough to avoid the Regis the whole day, but it was exhausting to look _all_ day. Finally, though, around time for dinner again – Ri thought he sensed Mew.

_I think I found Mew!_ He yelled, then realizing he didn’t have to yell for everyone to hear him. It was exciting, though – better than the rest of the day. He was hidden, of course, as another pokemon, likely hiding from them. Like Red’s Illusion, though, Ri could sense through it, and he found him hidden away in a fairly private part of the forest, seemingly playing. He looked to Ri when he got closer, and turned to him to figure him out. He was a Pichu now, but Ri wondered if Mew knew he knew who he was.

_I can sense you – I know you’re Mew. You’re safe with me and my mate – we don’t want to hurt you, we just want to talk._

“Mew!”

Mew jumped, and changed form to appear as his true self. He flitted around a bit before settling in front of Ri, floating, lying on his front a bit above Ri’s eye level. Two appeared beside Ri, surprising him, but he seemed alright with Two, too, Ri was happy to see. Pretty soon, Red and Lucario showed up, and Ri was glad that none of them scared Mew away. Maybe Mew knew they could sense him and find him again.

#  \--––—Chapter 12—––--

Mew was quite what Ri expected him to be. He was furry, like Two, small, and pink. He looked pretty feline, but rather ambiguous, too, showing how Two’s fairly ambiguous hands and tail weren’t just a product of being engineered. They both had the same general shape to their bodies, though Two’s tail was less distinct from his body, his ear stalks a little less natural, and his arms and legs a little more developed. Mew looked pretty cute, but it was a cutesy cute that Ri wasn’t into, while Two looked cute in a way Ri liked.

Mew, upon seeing all of them, decided to choose Two out of all of them.

“Are you a Mew, too?”

_I’m more of a Mewtwo,_ Two said, rather sadly, though he’d be otherwise pleased with his play on words. _I… used to be a Mew, but humans heavily modified me and made me what I am now._

“Are you a friend?”

_I – suppose,_ Two said, looking awkwardly at Ri, unhappy to be singled out.

_He’s my mate – if that means anything to you, if you trust me, you can trust him, too._

Two looked grateful now, that Ri was vouching for him again.

“I have not seen a Mew in a long time. You are the first. It’s been so lonely…”

Mew flitted off, leaving Ri and Two both confused. Frankly, after the Regis, Ri didn’t expect Mew to be so welcoming to them, especially Two. It was surprising that Mew so readily recognized him as a Mew, when he was so modified.

_I never expected a Mew to accept me so easily,_ Two said, dumbfounded himself.

_It’s better than the alternative,_ Ri said.

_It is,_ Two continued. _I just don’t know what made him think of me that way._

Ri didn’t know, either. Maybe he’d been watching – if he was lonely, that was a good reason to know what was happening in the rest of the world.

Mew flitted back with a toy, handing it to Two.

“Play with me!”

Two took it, unsure what to do with it. He just looked at it, then at Mew, who was playing with something else already.

_I’m – not that much like you,_ Two said, _I never played like this._

Two handed the toy off to Ri, uninterested. When Ri got it, he saw what it was – a yo-yo; he doubted it could fit around Two’s finger to play with it properly. It couldn’t fit on his paw, either, so he passed it to Red, who knew what it was enough to put it on his claw and play with it a bit, intriguing Lucario while Ri and Two dealt more directly with Mew.

“You don’t want to play?” Mew asked, seeming almost scared. It seemed he thought if they played, they’d stay to keep him company.

_We’ll keep you company for a while,_ Ri said, _but we’d like to talk._

“About what?” Mew asked, still scared that they’d try to leave.

_Something that might’ve happened 1000 years ago or so. And about the Tree._

“The Tree?” Mew asked.

_What is it?_ Two asked.

“Arceus made it.”

_Arceus!?_

Mew nodded, and flitted around them some more, seemingly for effect.

“He didn’t like things dying. He made it so they didn’t have to anymore.”

_So pokemon here don’t die?_ Lucario asked, now more interested in Mew.

_I’m not sure,_ Two said. _I think Mew is referring to extinction. Arceus didn’t want any pokemon going extinct, so he made this Tree to make sure they wouldn’t._

Mew nodded again, confirming it.

_How does it work?_ Two asked, hoping that might help them.

“Aura _,_ ” Mew said. Ri and Two looked at each other, unsure that they liked what that meant.

_Why can’t I sense it?_ Ri asked. _We’re Lucario; we should be able to sense the Tree’s aura if it’s alive._

“We’re weak,” Mew continued.

_We are?_ Two asked, looking for an explanation.

“The tree, me. I’m so tired…”

Mew faltered mid-air, making Ri worry and wonder.

_Maybe I can’t sense the aura because it isn’t there anymore._

_That means the tree is dying_ now, Two said.

_It’s dying!?_

“We were dying, too,” Mew said weakly, referring to Two, still considering him a Mew, somehow. “He didn’t want that. He brought me here, and linked me with the Tree so I couldn’t die. I… think it hurts the Tree, though…”

The thought of it was sickening to Ri. Arceus had chosen for these pokemon never to go extinct, but he linked Mew to the Tree so that he leached its aura. The Tree would always die, constantly requiring aura to survive. It was up to Lucario, or, Ri guessed, aura-sensitive humans to sustain it. Ri felt they should let the tree die, except for the many pokemon who lived on it, and Mew – none of whom deserved to lose their home, likely their lives. It made him think, though, and wonder why Lucario ended up in Rota – the only Lucario on the Kanto mainland, at least until Ri appeared. That thought was doubly sickening.

_Lucario – I think I know why you’re here._

_What?_

_The tree – it’s dying. It needs aura, like any other living being – I can’t sense it because it’s all gone. There are aura-sensitive people in Rota likely because they took care of the tree. For 1000 years, now, nobody has, if Aaron was the last Aura Guardian. I – I think he thought you could help with it._

Ri felt his body burning within him, producing the aura he used to attack. Lucario were sometimes sought for their aura because they produced it and used it. It could be drained from them and used, with the right technology, and the Lucario would keep producing it as long as they had enough aura to live – which, Ri had learned, wasn’t much at all. Whether Aaron had thought to use Lucario to power the tree, Ri didn’t know, but it was certainly more than coincidental, if Aaron knew that Lucario used aura.

_I – he never told me –_

_What does this mean!?_ Lucario cried out, unsure about everything. He fell to his knees again – Ri didn’t do that much at all, but then again, he had Two to fall _to,_ so he could collapse on him without using his knees.

_We still don’t know what happened with Aaron. We need to find that out from Mew,_ Two said _._

Again, Ri turned to Mew to keep inquiring of him.

_Mew, was there a human, about 1000 years ago?_

“They used to come, and they helped strengthen us. It stopped, a long time ago. Since then, so weak…”

Mew didn’t seem in the best of shape. It might’ve been sudden, since Mew seemed strong just before; perhaps they were coming just as the tree was starting to die.

_Aaron came here!? What did he do!?_ Lucario asked, disturbed.

“What the others did, but he wanted something. When we were strengthened, I did it for him, but it used a lot of strength.”

_What were you doing!?_

Lucario blanked out, which was really bad, but at the exact moment, he stopped talking, so Ri and Two could finish their conversation relatively undisturbed.

_We might be able to help you, Mew. We are aura-sensitive like they were. We can give the Tree some of our aura so you won’t die. Is there some place we can interface with the Tree?_

Ri hoped that finding that place would lead them to evidence of Aaron. That way, Lucario could know, and try to come to terms with it. Now, though – he still wasn’t sure, and it was very hard on him.

“Follow, I will show you.”

Mew started off, planning on leading them somewhere, but Ri needed to try to get through to Lucario so he could follow, too. He went to talk, but he sensed Red unsure about it, so he looked to Red instead.

“I can help him,” he said. “I let him cry on me before – he might be used to me.”

_Ok._

Ri went with Two instead, then, to follow Mew, carefully making sure they could guide Red and Lucario. Mew took them back down into the tree, which Ri somewhat expected – it made sense that the place they were looking for would be among the ‘roots.’ When he sensed Red and Lucario were ready to come, he started guiding them. They caught up fairly quickly, since Mew wasn’t flying too quickly himself. They all walked together, then, behind Mew, for what seemed to be a long time – much longer than it had taken them to go up the tree. Perhaps they were going deeper, though, or it just seemed longer because the tree was dying _now,_ but it left Ri to sense Two getting more and more worried as they stepped closer to whatever was going to happen.

_Ri – Promise me you won’t try to sacrifice yourself when we get there._

_Lucario_ said it, of all the pokemon in the Tree. Ri almost expected Two to say it, since Two was worried, he sensed, but it was somehow easier to take coming from Lucario.

_Don’t do that to Two. Be there for your mate; Do not do to Two what Aaron did to me._

Ri looked to Two – Two seemed relieved that Lucario was trying to make Ri do this.

_I – I can’t do that to you, Two. But I can’t just let Lucario let himself die, either._

_If it must be… you have to let go of me,_ Lucario said.

_Ri – please. I don’t want to worry about you._

_I love you, Two._ Ri sighed. He would be destroyed if he lost Two. Two cared for him as much or more, and needed him, too.

_I’m – I’m so sorry, Lucario, I have to be here for my mate._

Ri didn’t feel good, but he also understood he’d feel worse to leave Two behind.

_I promised, Two – a long time ago. I’m here for you – I can’t imagine choosing to break that promise._

_Thank you, Ri,_ Two said, immensely relieved.

They still had to deal with the Tree, and Lucario’s likely sacrifice to save it, though, but they kept walking.

_I don’t want you to die,_ Two admitted. It was something they knew they were scared of for a long time, but now, facing it, it seemed easier to admit, as they kept walking.

_I was scared, when I stopped sensing you. You’re the only one who really cares for me, Ri. To lose you..._

_I can’t imagine living without you, either,_ Ri said. _It isn’t fair to feel like that about you, but tell you you have to let go of me for feeling the same._

_I want to cuddle you later,_ Two said, feeling unsure and vulnerable himself.

_I want that, too,_ Ri said. Increasingly, Ri realized that the cuddles were as much for Two’s sake as Ri’s sake. Two needed them, too – it was usually just Ri who was explicitly needing them. However, at the moment, they still needed to deal with the Tree. Mew was weakening even as they walked, having a harder time keeping himself floating. He took them lower, though, deeper into the tree, deeper even than they’d been when entering it at first. Underground, they navigated caves, relieved that they didn’t have to find their own way out since they could teleport. It was still difficult for Two, Ri sensed, but he hoped Two felt secure in Ri’s promise to him, even though Ri wasn’t sure it was right for Two to cling to him like that. He sighed – he knew he was incredibly clingy, too. It wasn’t fair to be upset with Two over it when Two was in the same place he was – desperate for affection and untrusting of himself. Ri just wanted to help Two feel better – in that case, he was happy he was able to promise to Two that he wouldn’t sacrifice himself. He just hoped that Lucario wouldn’t die because of it, even if Lucario had already said to let go of him.

_I’m here for my mate,_ Ri reminded himself, _not Lucario._

“Up ahead,” Mew said, now _very_ weakly. He fell, choosing Two’s arms to fall into, making Two catch him awkwardly. He almost missed it – his mind was somewhere else – Ri sensed back in the tube, where he only really cared for himself. He sensed Two wondered how much he really cared for Ri, but he had cast it aside, needing to rely on Ri now to help Mew, but also to choose him over Lucario. Now, more than ever, Ri wanted to be reliable.

_Ri – I can’t –_

Two gave him Mew, and Ri quickly took him in his arms. Two went off to dissociate, making Ri very worried for him. They needed to deal with Mew, but … Ri couldn’t let Two be alone. Not now, when he needed Ri as much as he did.

_I’m sorry, Red. I need to see my mate._

Ri handed Mew off to Red, leaving him and Lucario alone to deal with him. Whatever was going to happen, Ri had to let go of it. He walked over to Two carefully, watching to make sure he was doing OK. He wasn’t – he was leaning against the cavern wall staring off into space, but while it was scary, it wasn’t the _worst_ thing Two could’ve done.

_Two…_ he said, finally reaching him. Ri hugged him, hoping to ground him.

_I’m scared, Ri._

_I know – I want to help,_ Ri said, hoping to get through. If Two was recognizing him, that was good.

_I’m so scared._

He knelt down, bringing Ri with him. Whatever it was – Two seemingly didn’t want to face it.

_I feel that I could force you to come back with me – that I could make you leave Lucario here to die saving Mew. So easily, I could wipe your memory and pretend it didn’t happen – I’m terrified that I’m even considering it._

_Two…_

Ri was feeling sick; he didn’t know how to help Two through this.

_I trust you, Two. I don’t think you’re going to do that to me._

_I – can’t, Ri – I don’t know how to deal with this._

_We’ll deal with it how we’ve dealt with everything else: together. We’re mated, Two – we don’t have to go through anything alone._

_Until one of us dies,_ Two said. _I’m scared that I’m going to be the one left behind._

_I don’t want to be left behind either, Two. I don’t know what I would do without you._

_I – is that true?_

_Of course, Two,_ Ri said, nearly surprised Two forgot.

_You need me, too –_

Two seemed to come back a bit. For a while, Ri was worried, but Two focused on Ri, looking sharper and more present. He could see what was happening behind Ri, now, but Ri wasn’t paying attention; he was too worried for Two to care.

_Please, Ri – go, save him. I don’t want him to die. I don’t want that._

_Ok – I’ll do my best._

Ri carefully let Two go, sitting on the ground now with his legs in front of him but bent – in a sort of foetal position. He stood up to deal with Lucario, and turned around to see what was happening, finding Lucario focusing his aura on Mew, and sensing it being drained from him. He and Two watched it together, appalled, as it was seemingly drained from him completely, like the Tree greedily drew it from him. That was the only way it could happen; Lucario could not possibly use all their aura themselves because they would pass out from the effort and loss of aura first. No – Arceus’ cruel creation murdered Lucario, and likely humans, too. Ri looked for the gloves, and saw them lying on a rock beside Lucario – it seemed that Lucario had seen them – but he looked back to Lucario, collapsing, weakening from the lack of aura. Ri waited a moment longer – enough for whatever process that the Tree was using to stop – then he ran to Lucario, hoping to be able to save him as long as he was still alive. He knelt down beside him, and picked him up – touching him for the first time, Ri vacantly thought.

“Aaron, he sacrificed himself – but why –” he said in Lucario, now unable to speak telepathically. He wasn’t too aware, it was going to be his final cohesive thought, but Ri wanted to make sure he’d continue living. He focused his own aura on Lucario, and did the same thing Lucario had, transferring it to him.

_Ri –_ Two said. Ri didn’t want to worry him, so he stopped. Lucario’s state didn’t change; Ri just figured he wouldn’t die, now. It was up to his body to produce the aura he needed.

_He’s – still weak… if you want –_ Two started saying, but Ri interrupted him, not wanting him to continue that thought.

_You were right to worry, Two. I had to do for him the same thing I did with you. If I do any more, it’ll start to form the same sort of thing I have with you. I don’t want that with him – I don’t want him to know me like that._

_Ri…_

Ri could sense Two was still conflicted. He hoped that his show of faithfulness would help; if Ri still wanted that with Two, then hopefully Two would see that he hadn’t hurt their relationship by his outburst.

_He’s going to be OK, now,_ Ri continued. _Remember – I managed to survive almost as bad before._

_Twice… I was scared both times that you were going to die._

_I’m lucky I had your aura – if I hadn’t, I likely would’ve._

_I’m lucky, too._

Ri didn’t say anything, unable to argue and unwilling to touch subjects that seemed to be touchy now. Instead, he looked up to Mew, who seemed disgusted himself by what happened.

“I hated this happening,” he said, still somewhat childish, but much stronger. “I forgot. I wish I had died.”

_He will be OK, Mew. I think I managed to save him with my own aura._

“I never wanted to be immortal like this. I wish Lucario hadn’t done that – I just wanted to show you the human…”

_Lucario’s like Aaron – he wants to save people and pokemon. I would let this tree die, if it didn’t kill you, too, and all the other pokemon living on it._

“Just one Lucario – strong, but one. The Tree needs much Aura.”

Ri sensed Two starting to worry again – it was time to go.

_We_ need _to go,_ Ri said, more to Red than to Mew.

“Won’t you stay – be my friends?”

It must’ve been hard on Mew to be tethered to the Tree. Nobody ever came to it, leaving him all alone even among all these pokemon. The only people who did come, as far as Ri could tell, died, sustaining the Tree in some horrific cycle which Lucario had continued. Now, Mew would have to wait a long time again, and the Tree would die again, perhaps causing him to die, too. Ri, though, needed to go, bring his mate out of this circumstance which was threatening him.

_I need to help my mate and watch over Lucario._

With that, before mew could try to make him feel bad, Ri teleported them all away, including Aaron’s gloves, so Lucario could at least come to terms with what happened to Aaron.

#  \--––—Chapter 13—––--

They appeared back home, in their living room, somewhat closer together than they were in the cave.

_Home,_ Two said. _It feels weird, now._

_In the morning, things will be better,_ Ri suggested.

_I hope so. I still want to cuddle._

_I do too – let’s deal with Lucario first, and maybe shower so we’re clean?_

Two nodded – he understood that they couldn’t cuddle immediately. He helped Ri bring Lucario to his room, and Red let them go away to deal with their own issues while he tried making Lucario somewhat comfortable. They showered immediately, hoping to remove the grime of travelling from their fur. It was unpleasant enough that they even felt marginally better after it, but things were far from over. They ate a bit, too, since they were hungry and worried about malnutrition. They made themselves eat pokemon food since it was designed to be perfectly healthy, but they looked forward to eating normally starting the next day.

Finally, they could get some sleep. They went to their bed, and as Ri had promised, they cuddled, Two around Ri like usual. Ri sensed Two was out of it – even ever since the first time they fought the regis. Now, they could start to get over it, and they could rebuild again, safe from outside threats.

_I’m so sorry, Ri, I was unfair to you earlier. I made you choose me over saving the tree._ Two said, surrounding Ri. Ri hugged him even as little spoon, hoping to comfort him, let him know things would be OK. He was clearer, now, better than in the cave – the immediate stress of the situation vanished, leaving him a little more able to see clearly and understand.

This was surprisingly hard for Ri to say. _I understand, Two – I’ve done a lot of things that are unfair to you; I feel bad that I haven’t been able to take it so well._

_That doesn’t make what I did OK._

… _Perhaps,_ Ri said _. But I feel like a lot of things I’ve done aren’t OK, yet they don’t seem to bother you. I’m not bothered, Two. I’m not bothered because I don’t want you to feel bad._

_I – I…_ Two started crying; this was very rare for him. It meant he was very upset. He hugged Ri tightly, trying to curl up around him to protect him.

_I feel so bad that I put you through that!_

_Two…_ Ri said, unsure what to do. He tried thinking of what Two said – a lot of things, now, that they had repeated to each other several times. He was feeling a little crushed, too, but he understood – Two’s protective instinct felt crossed; he needed to preserve it against the things he was feeling that was threatening it.

_I forgive you, Two. I don’t want you to feel bad like this. I want you to be happy. I need you, too; I’m in no position to be upset at you for needing me, too._

Two started crying more; Ri understood that, too. He was there now, comforting his mate – Ri hoped that Two found comfort in him, still. This time, he figured he should let Two know that explicitly – he hoped it might help.

_I hope that you can still find comfort in me, Two. I hope that you can still feel like you can be close to me. I want to be close to you, still, and I still want to find comfort in you; it sickens me to think I’d ever want anything else._

_Ri…_ Two said, rather weakly.

_Feel better, Two. Please forgive yourself for this, because to me, everything is OK._

They continued cuddling, until Two finally fell asleep, and then after that, as Ri fell asleep in his embrace, worried over how Two was going to be.

_Ri?_ Two asked. Ri felt himself being nudged – it surprised him awake, but he quickly realized it was just Two. He turned around, so he could see Two. He still looked a little fragile, but Ri liked what he saw – that was quite reassuring.

_Oh – you woke up first, for once,_ he said.

_Yeah,_ Two said.

… _How are you?_

_I… have to accept that I’m not perfect. I’m relieved that you are OK – I worried that I hurt you, doing that yesterday. I still feel bad, Ri; I never expected that I would do something like that to you. You make me feel normal, Ri – I don’t want to push you away, because then I don’t know how I would feel about myself._

_There are things that I have to learn to rely on myself for, too,_ Ri admitted. _You have been better than I have at being reliable for them._

_I… feel that I can rely on you, Ri. Until I figure out how to rely on myself._

_I feel that I can rely on you, too, Two._

_So… we’re alright?_

_I think so,_ Ri said, smiling. Two was being so cute – worrying like this. It was scary before, but now, when it was more clear that they were going to be OK, Ri hoped things could be a little lighter.

Two sighed, relieved. _Now, everything seems like it’s going to be OK. I’m so thankful, Ri, for you – I hope you know that._

_I do, and I’m thankful for you, too._

Ri sensed Two take a moment to let it register and settle within him, then he tried moving his attention elsewhere.

– _Where are Red and Lucario?_

Apparently, Two hadn’t been _too_ present the night before, even after he came back from that first, scary moment.

_Sleeping in their rooms. Lucario is OK, Two – I was able to save him after the Tree drew all his aura from him._

_Good, I do not know what I would have done if he died._

_We don’t have to think of it; everything is OK,_ Ri said, trying to divert.

_He must be in a worse state than we are, though._

Ri nodded.

_We can help him._

_Yeah, once he wakes up._

_Perhaps we can make ourselves breakfast; that would be nice._

Ri nodded again. _I’d like that._

They got up, and prepared themselves breakfast like normal. It was slightly awkward for Two, but he managed to have fun, which Ri was thankful for. Things were like that the whole day – Ri hoped that everything could go back to truly normal soon, but he trusted that as they did things, Two would settle again. Red woke up too and had breakfast after them, and then they spent most of the rest of the day worrying over Lucario. Ri remembered being asleep for days when his aura was drained like this; Lucario was in an even worse position, so Ri guessed that they had a while to wait. They tried doing things eventually to distract themselves, and spent a little time considering how their own experience of Lucario’s story was different from the movie they had watched. They considered opening the gym again, but decided to put it off for another couple days until Two felt a bit better.

Overall, Ri tried helping Two feel good again. He remained supportive of his mate, which helped Two. By the end of the week, Two was doing pretty alright, and Ri had also sensed that Lucario’s aura was growing, which was a good sign. They had to take care of him, though, making sure he was hydrated and fed. Luckily, they had a bit of hospital-grade equipment from the time the place functioned as a lab, and a quick visit to the Pokemon Center gave them solutions from the lab they could use to keep him alive, so they didn’t have to care for him constantly.

A week in, though, they started to become worried. Lucario had been weak, but it never took Ri this long to recover enough of his aura to regain consciousness. It made them wonder if Lucario was brain dead from losing _all_ his aura, but he was alive enough that they didn’t want to give up on him. They waited another couple days, hoping.

A week and a half after they returned, Ri and Two decided to spend some time together looking over Lucario. They spent it mulling over their experiences, too, trying to come to terms with the things that had happened to them. Evelyn had put Ri in a hard place, then Lucario pushed him further – so far as to recede back home to deal with it. Then, the thought that Two caused the regis to attack them, and then his sudden breakdown in the cavern… it was hard on both of them.

_We were lucky we were able to help each other,_ Ri said, thankful.

_Imagine if we’d fallen apart at the same time._

_We’d just be a crying mess together,_ Ri guessed. It was funny enough for them both to laugh at, but then at the same time, they both thought about it more closely, and it turned scary for both of them.

_We’re so fragile,_ Two said.

_Yeah…_ Ri said.

_It isn’t right._

_No… I suppose it isn’t. It’s the way it is right now; I don’t know if there’s much we can do about it._

_We should._

_You’re right, Two – we should._

_That being said… It’s OK that, for now, you aren’t there. I understand; I’m obviously in the same place._

_Me too; it’s OK. We have to work together, now, Two – I don’t think I understood that until now._

_I don’t think I did, either._

Things already were a little more resolved. It was a good thing, because Ri felt like he was sensing something from Lucario.

“Aaron…”

He couldn’t sense or use aura; Ri was in the same place when he lost his aura. Ri didn’t even realize at first he was talking with his voice, until Two pointed his accent out to him. Now, though, they didn’t bother mentioning it to Lucario.

‘I can not sense, Aaron, what has happened to me?”

_Aaron isn’t here. It’s Ri and Two; we brought you back to your home._

“Ri? Two?”

Things came back to Lucario. That kind of happened to Ri, too; it was tough on the mind to lose so much aura. It seemed kind of painful, unfortunately, but at least Lucario was back.

“Mew, is he –” Lucario said now, suddenly alarmed.

_He’s fine, Lucario. You managed to save him. The Tree extracted your aura from you, but I managed to give you some of mine before you died. You’re safe; it’s over._

“But my senses, my Aura…”

_It’s happened to me, too. You’re weak, and you have too little aura. Your body is producing it, but it’ll take time before your powers return to you._

“Aaron, he…”

Ri sensed Lucario was in anguish; he knew now that Aaron had truly gone to the Tree to save Rota, but he still didn’t understand why he had betrayed Lucario. It was confusing; it was easier for him to believe that Aaron was just selfish and scared – it was harder to figure out why he had been loyal to Rota but not to the pokemon who cared about him most – who seemed to be his closest friend. It was something they had to deal with later; Lucario was still too weak now.

_Lucario, don’t worry about Aaron now. Rest, because you need it._

“ _Aaron…”_ Lucario seemed to fade back into unconsciousness; in his state, it was probably good he did. Lucario was stronger than he was at first, though, so Ri trusted that it wasn’t bad. He was probably sleeping more properly now, anyway, so he’d hopefully wake up a bit stronger and more prepared to face Aaron.

Once they were sure he was asleep, they went to find Red to let him know what happened. Red was relieved, too, and they decided to celebrate a bit, and ordered food out from a place in Pallet Town to enjoy themselves for a bit safe at home. Ri and Two quickly teleported out to retrieve it, surprising the poor cashier, and returned with it, amused from the short exchange they had.

After eating, they played some games, enjoying being able to mindlessly enjoy themselves after Rota and after worrying about Lucario. After that, though, they stayed up with Lucario, in case he woke up when they were sleeping, but they ended up falling asleep in his room – at least they were physically present when Lucario woke up again.

“Ri, Two! Get up!”

They woke up, exhausted after staying up too late. They weren’t enjoying themselves too much now, but at least they had fun the night before. Ri had been leaning in Two’s side, so he sat up straight, his body complaining from being in that uncomfortable position as long as it was.

“I need to be detached from these things you have me attached to.”

Lucario seemed suddenly alright, but Ri noticed through the fog that he was still speaking in Lucario.

_Give us a moment, we stayed up too late last night._

“I desperately need to go to the bathroom,” he said, rather sheepishly. Given the urgency of the matter, Ri understood; it would’ve been unpleasant to have to do it where he was sitting. He didn’t want an accident, so he tried to pull himself together to get Lucario to the bathroom. He got up, and found the needles they’d put in Lucario to keep him hydrated, and prepped them to be pulled out.

_We were trying to keep you hydrated; you were asleep too long to do nothing._

“I thank you, but right now, I would rather wait until later for the explanations.”

_You’re still going to be weak,_ Ri said, pulling out the last needle.

“I do not need any more help, thank you,” he said, trying to jump out of bed. The moment his paws hit the ground, though, he wobbled and nearly fell, barely catching himself on the wall.

“Perhaps I do need help…” he said, weakly. Ri was, unfortunately, the better height to help him, so he went and supported Lucario. Then he looked to Two – he didn’t want to help Lucario in the bathroom alone.

_Do… you mind if Two comes, too?_

“If it gets me there faster, I do not care what happens.”

Two rushed over, and helped them get to the bathroom. Inside, they helped Lucario do his business, and helped him back to his bed afterward.

Back on his bed and relieved, Lucario was more comfortable and less pushy. He was more obviously exhausted, now, but he stayed awake this time. He was still thinking of Aaron, but at least it was less feverful than it had been before.

“Aaron…” He said, still confused.

_I think we can explain, if… you want. At least, what we think about it._

“I can not figure it out myself; I do not know what to feel. I... do not know if I want to feel anything.”

Ri understood that; that was many of his days in the beginning, when Two was teaching to him that what Cipher had done to him was wrong. He sensed it from Lucario now, and it threatened to bring him back, but he reminded himself to trust Two.

_Aaron was your master, Lucario. He felt like he was able to make choices for you. If he went to the Tree and sacrificed himself, he obviously wanted to help Rota. It seems that he didn’t abandon Rota._

“But why did he leave me behind? I would have helped him, I would have protected him!”

_I… if he cared for you, he may have chosen to force you to stay behind so that you wouldn’t be able to sacrifice yourself for him._

Lucario sat a while, trying to take it in. It was still being difficult for him.

“... But why did he find me in the first place? Why did he choose to help me at all if he had planned to command me like every other master?”

Ri had noticed that Lucario had never mentioned the time _before_ he met Aaron. Ri couldn’t be sure, but he guessed it was like how he never mentioned the time before he met Two, or how Two didn’t like talking about the time before he met Ri. They didn’t like thinking about the time before they mated.

_If he had any idea what a Lucario was, he may have wondered if you could help with the Tree._

“I thought you said he cared for me, it sounds like he just wanted to use me to save himself.”

_Lucario – then why did he force you to stay behind?_

“I don’t know! I can’t handle it, Ri! I loved Aaron, but everything he did for me was a lie!? He used me to save himself!? I do not understand, I do not know!”

Ri was scared – he glanced at Two, feeling intimidated, but it wasn’t like it was before. It wasn’t Ri’s fault any of this was hard on Lucario, and Lucario wasn’t trying to make it sound like it was. It was just kind of sad; Ri didn’t know how to help. Lucario was crying now; that was perhaps better than the yelling.

_He may have found you and helped you planning on using you to sustain the Tree, but he may have decided otherwise and chose to care for you truly. If he forced you into the staff before going to the Tree and sent you back to Rota, he did not want to use you; he was likely trying to protect you._

“By forcing me into his staff!?” Lucario was having a hard time understanding how he could do that meaning to be caring.

_We’re not trying to say it was right. Sometimes, people do the wrong things because they’re trying to do the right things. He cared, maybe, but he selfishly decided for you what was going to happen to you. That was wrong; it doesn’t matter if he meant to protect you. It caused you this pain; he had no right to force that upon you._

“I do not see how anybody who cares for somebody else would force them like this – make them feel like this,” Lucario said. Ri sensed his confusion; it messed with everything they taught him and made him wonder again. It perhaps wasn’t the best for them to be going over this when he was still recovering, but they couldn’t make him wait if he was conscious; it _needed_ to happen now.

_That’s why it’s wrong._

“I don’t understand, Ri…”

_It’s consistent with what we have tried teaching you,_ Two explained. _You have a right to choose for yourself what happens to you. Aaron may have cared for you, and therefore he wanted you to be safe, but he ensured it by choosing for you that you would stay behind._

_We’re trying to say that it doesn’t matter whether he cared for you or not; it was wrong of him to choose for you._

“When you told me that, I had been convinced he didn’t care about me. I do not know how to handle it if he did care for me, too.”

_I’m… not sure. I… don’t really want to think about it,_ Ri said.

_It was wrong of Aaron to do this to you. Whether or not you choose to forgive him because he did it because he cared for you… that is up to you to decide._

“Did he truly care for me if he so easily chose this for me?”

_I don’t know,_ Ri said.

A bit of silence; nobody really knew how to deal with it.

“I need time to think,” Lucario said.

_You should really rest,_ Ri suggested. _You are still recovering aura._

“I can not rest; this is too bothersome to me. Let me be alone; if I come to terms with it, I will sleep.”

_Ok…_

They all got up and left, leaving Lucario to himself. They were happy he was awake, but they wished he didn’t have to face this just as he was starting to recover. He needed rest, not worrying over himself like this. They tried leaving him alone, which was easier to do since he couldn’t sense, but in the morning, Ri and Two felt like they had to check up on him again. They went in to find him quite a bit calmer and grounded; it seemed like he figured things out.

“I can not believe that any human who would force their choices onto a pokemon truly cares about that pokemon,” Lucario said, defensively. Ri couldn’t blame him; he generally agreed. “Aaron should not have done this to me; I can not forgive him for it.”

Ri hadn’t been able to forgive Ash, either. Still, it sickened Ri to think about him, even though Ri understood why Ash did it. It was the same basic situation: Ash did something that, from his perspective, was alright, but it wasn’t right, and Ri was hurt a lot because it happened. He wasn’t sure about Lucario’s reaction, though; he was pretty angry, and he didn’t seem to be calming down.

_I hope that it doesn’t leave you bitter and consumed by hatred,_ Two said, worried that Lucario wouldn’t get past it.

“You are my friends; I would hope to let go and forget about Aaron. I do not see how you are in the position to tell me how to react to such matters, anyway.”

_Of anyone, Two is the most able to tell you how to react! You’re going where he went, and Two knows what it’s like! I’m almost there myself, Lucario! I’m angry at Ash; I hated him! I can barely stomach thinking about him! I can barely tolerate people because of what happened to me! But I don’t let that consume me. I might be wary, distrustful, and aloof toward humans, but here at home, I am safe, and I don’t have to feel those things! I know the way I act isn’t always fair, but I can’t help it! We have to try, too, Lucario, so we’re in the best position of anyone to tell you what it’s like!_

“I – I am sorry, I am not used to being unable to sense.”

_That’s not an excuse! I don’t need to sense to know how somebody else could be bothered by something I say!_

“I – do not know what to say, then.”

_It’s_ fine, _Lucario! I understand. I have been in your position; it’s disorienting, confusing, and it makes you feel like there’s nobody on your side. But we can help you, you just have to let us!_

_Ri, please calm down,_ Two said calmly and softly, now that there was a slight pause. Ri sat down; he didn’t realize he’d stood up – he didn’t realize he was so upset until after.

_I –_

_It’s alright. I sense you were upset for me, but the point has been made; it’s time to let off._

_You’re right._

Ri sighed; he had to realize that nothing too upsetting had really happened.

_I –_

Ri was sorry, but there was no way he could get it out now. He felt deflated; it was going to be hard to get over, but it wasn’t like the other things.

_You were right, too,_ Two said – making Ri feel a bit better. He felt validated; that was one of the most important things.

“This does not change how I feel about Aaron; I can not accept anything else.”

_We can’t tell you how to feel,_ Two said; Ri thankful he was taking it out of his hands. _Just that, in our experience, it isn’t worth holding grudges. You’re right in the sense that we haven’t reconciled with humanity, but we have chosen not to define ourselves by what we have experienced. It still hurts, but we do not let that keep us from trying to enjoy our lives together._

“Do you expect me to forgive Aaron for what he has done for me?”

_You… have to choose not to let it define you. You have to choose to let it go that it hurts; I don’t know if that’s forgiveness._

_It isn’t OK that Aaron did this to you – it will never be OK. But you have to be OK with it not being OK. You have to accept that it happened and decide that it doesn’t have to affect you so severely._

“Why should I choose to forgive Aaron for what he’s done to me when it’s wrong?”

_It’s your choice whether you forgive him or not; it’s your choice whether you move on or not; it’s not up to Aaron now. It depends on what you want._

“... I need to think some more, now.”

Ri and Two got up to leave him alone again, but he stopped them.

“Wait – I do not know if I want to be alone more.”

Ri looked to Two – he guessed they could stay, but he wanted to know what Two thought, too. After getting upset, Ri almost wanted to recede, but he could push through with Two, so he decided to stick it out.

“I am hungry, however. I do not know when I last ate.”

_We didn’t think to bring anything; we can fetch something now. We will be back quickly._

They went to the kitchen to find something to eat, making Ri somewhat relieved. They stood looking for food, but Ri wanted to talk, too.

_I don’t know,_ he said, generally about everything, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by what he was feeling _._

_How did what he said make you feel?_ Two said, hoping to help.

_I was upset, Two. I didn’t like that he disrespected what you have been through and dismissed it._

_It wasn’t just about me, though,_ Two pointed out, fetching some berries from a cabinet _._

_I remember, Two. At first – I didn’t even know to be angry at them for what they did to me. I didn’t even know it was wrong. You taught me – you convinced me to trust you it was wrong. I hated them, too, for putting me in that position. I… think you convinced me it wasn’t worth being angry over. It just made it hurt more. But I couldn’t imagine where I’d be if I didn’t accept it._

_It was hard to watch you be angry, after I learned from you._

Having Two helped; having safety helped. Ri was able to let go of it because it didn’t have to affect him anymore. He was still traumatized, still able to go back, but he understood that he needed to grow beyond it; they wanted Lucario to understand that he needed to grow beyond this, too.

Ri watched as Two compiled a small meal for Lucario; it was calming, and it helped him figure stuff out. Two could work through things like this; Ri couldn’t, and he needed Two to help him figure it out. Ri was leaning on the counter, supporting himself while Two worked around him, not really realizing he could be in the way. It wasn’t too much of a bother; if Ri was blocking Two, Two used his power to retrieve whatever it was he was looking for.

_I don’t know why it seems like it’s been so easy for him,_ Ri said, now that he’d had a chance to be more retrospective. It made him wonder if something was subpar about him that it was so much harder for him. He watched Two’s tail flick in reaction; Two didn’t like that he said that. Two turned, and Ri caught his eyes and managed to hold eye contact with Two while Two left behind what he was doing. He had to look up to do it – Two was quite a bit taller than him.

_You’re no less a Lucario than he is,_ Two said. _You’re different pokemon; the way you are managing to deal with it is no less valid than how he’s managing it. And a lot worse happened to you. Lucario doesn’t know what I’ve been through; it’s relatively OK for him to dismiss it. It isn’t OK for you to dismiss what you went through._

_Two…_

Inadvertently, Two had started to remind Ri of what he’d been through. Immediately, Two came and put his arms around Ri; Ri felt a bit better surrounded by Two – surrounded by somebody who would keep him safe.

_See?_ Two said, softly. _Don’t feel like a hypocrite; it’s OK that it still hurts. We’re not trying to tell Lucario that it stops hurting, we’re trying to tell him that it’s not the end of his life because it does._

_Two, how do I do it? What do I do to make myself feel OK after this?_

_I don’t know, Ri. I don’t think we’ve faced something like this before._

_I don’t like it._

_I don’t, either._

_What do I do?_

Two paused before answering; Ri sensed him thinking, considering carefully how to answer. It was worrisome that Two didn’t immediately know how to help.

_What do you want, Ri?_

Ri thought about it, too. At first, what he thought of was things like for it to stop hurting. But – he tried remembering what he wanted before feeling like this, what he thought when he wasn’t going through this again. Something broke through this time; it took him a moment, but he managed to identify it.

_Two – I want you to not have to worry about me. I want to be stronger so that you don’t always have to do this for me. I want to help you, instead._

_I –_

Two was speechless – that was a first. It would’ve been adorable, if it weren’t for the situation they were in.

_I want to get over this, Two. I want to get better._

Two hugged Ri tightly.

_I like that a bit better. I want to help you, Ri. I’m thankful that you have let me help you this far, and I will help you all the way._

Ri burst out crying, safe in Two’s arms. It hurt that he wasn’t strong enough, it hurt that he couldn’t brush it off; it was the same problem it always was. He didn’t feel good enough; it didn’t help when his self-worth felt like a house of cards which would blow over any moment without Two to reassure him.

_You’re in a better position than Lucario thinks; I don’t think Lucario can admit that, now. I don’t think Lucario would say that if we made him answer. It hurts; but you did it. You were strong enough to do it even though it hurts._

Ri heard him, but he didn’t respond at the moment – he needed to work through other things. He wanted to feel OK again – he tried thinking through it.

_I trusted that you were right, Two. I chose to believe you that I have worth – that my propriety is an intrinsic right that I deserve. I still believe you, Two – I can’t let myself forget that._

_I can be stronger, Two. I want to be. I want to be more than what they made me be; I see that I can’t do that without letting go. I want to let go._

_I am always here to help,_ Two said. _As you have helped me._

Reassured, feeling like he figured it out, Ri stopped crying so intensely.

_I have to accept that I need your help, for now. Like we said – we have to work together. I will help you too, Two – I want to do that for you._

_I’m grateful – I appreciate that you feel this now. I always trusted you do, but I always understood that it hurt too much for you to realize it._

_I’m grateful, too – you’re an amazing mate._

_You are, too – don’t ever forget that you helped yourself out of it this time by wanting to help me._

_I’ll try,_ Ri said, managing to smile. He sensed Two was relieved; he was happy to be able to work through it for him.

_I’m sorry I made you worry._

_It’s not your fault,_ Two said.

_But to change it, I have to take responsibility for it,_ Ri said _._

_I suppose so…_

Two finally released Ri and finished Lucario’s meal; it had been a little longer than they had expected, now. Ri was able to help, now, though, and they brought it back to him feeling somewhat more sure of themselves.

“I thought you said you were going to be quick,” Lucario said when they came back and handed the bowl to him, sitting back down in the chairs they had left.

_There was a problem in the kitchen; we needed to fix it,_ Two said, glancing at Ri and subtly smiling. Ri sniffled, feeling marginally better than he had before.

“Did I –”

_We’re not over it, either, Lucario,_ Two said, _but we want to get better. We want you to want to get better._

“I had thought about it – it seems useless to try to change things; Aaron is dead. You are right – it was wrong – but to dwell on it is fruitless. I see that I need help, but it seems that you are not anymore able to help me. You are my friends – it will be sad to leave you, too, but it seems I have to leave you.”

_You shouldn’t leave yet; you need to rest,_ Ri said. _You are worse than I was; it was several days before I could manage to leave home._

“If I am too weak – I must stay. I will try not to be difficult for you. Otherwise, I would like to leave as soon as possible.”

_Is going away the best thing? We understand what you’re going through; others might not._

“You have each other to heal for; I see that you can not afford to help me, too. Concern yourselves with each other; I will find someone else to help me.”

_At least – perhaps we can help you find somewhere,_ Ri said.

“What would you have in mind?”

_Lucario packs,_ Ri said. _The Lucario in Kalos are fairly progressive and friendly toward us; they might be most willing to help you and accept you._

“Other Lucario?”

Ri sensed Lucario spending a moment to think about it; apparently he hadn’t before.

“I do not remember living among our kind before.”

_A pack is a like-minded group of Lucario who choose to live together. Sometimes, they can be fairly strict about who they accept, but sometimes, they’re pretty accommodating. I think that a pack in Kalos would accept you and teach you and help you; other packs, I’ve learned, might attack you and worse._

“What sort of Lucario would attack their own kind?”

_Conservative Lucario,_ Ri said, _or, rather, bigoted ones_. _Ones who look at your spikes and deem you value-less, or the color of your fur, or judge you for mating somebody like Two, or ones who devalue your understanding of aura because it isn’t like theirs, the ‘right’ one._

Ri had to admit that was a little bitter; unfortunately, he’d experienced all of that. He never regretted mating Two, but he regretted his worldview of generally good pokemon being shattered.

“The Lucario of Kalos are ‘progressive?’”

_The people who came up with the things we taught you were radical progressives of their time,_ Two said. _Now, the people who want to defend those values are considered conservative. Conservative/progressive just means that some people want things to be the same, while others want things to change. The Lucario of Kalos are ‘progressive’ in the sense that they exhibit behavior different from the others, and are generally open to considering new ideas. Sinnoh Lucario especially are conservative in the sense that they reject new ideas. One isn’t necessarily ‘right’ or ‘wrong;’ the things you’re trying to preserve or change are the things that are right or wrong. Preserving slavery is a bad thing, while preserving civil liberties is a good thing. Considering new forms of government is not necessarily a bad thing; pursuing forms of government without abandon or consideration of those liberties is bad. Sometimes, it’s good to be progressive. Sometimes, it’s good to be conservative. In our opinion, in this circumstance, we prefer progressive Lucario because they aren’t the ones who have tried to hurt us for being different._

“I… suppose I understand. Do you consider yourselves progressive, then?”

Ri was shocked by the question; he’d never really thought of it before. He sensed Two; Two didn’t seem prepared for it, either.

_I’d suppose we’re pretty radically progressive,_ Ri guessed. _At least, in certain matters which we care about. Otherwise… we don’t really care what humans or other Lucario do._

“I would have to think about it, myself.”

_You pretty quickly adopted modern thought and adapted to the world pretty quickly,_ Two suggested.

_You’re progressive by the standards of your time,_ Ri said. _I guess it’s up to you to decide how you feel about the way things are today._

“If I join a pack, will I know?”

_Probably not, wild pokemon don’t participate in human affairs._

“I am used to being involved with humans.”

_Then… there aren’t many options for you,_ Ri said. _You could stay here, or go back to Rota and hope that Evelyn will let you stay there freely, or you can find a trainer who will let you --_

“No trainers!”

_Then either here or Rota,_ Two said, rather intimidated alongside Ri by the sudden outburst.

“I do not wish to stay here.”

_Do you want to go back to Rota?_

“I…”

Ri and Two watched Lucario think through it, think back on all the other things he’d done in Rota, imagining himself going back there to live there again.

“I can’t stay here, either,” he said, less pushy now, and less sure.

Ri glanced at Two – they were both confused.

_Why not?_ Ri asked for both of them.

“You are mated – and you already have Red. I see that I need help; I can not make it harder for you.”

Ri was silenced; he wasn’t sure how to take it. His first instinct was to take it like he wasn’t good enough. He sensed Lucario, though, and… that wasn’t what he meant. Ri saw a little more properly that he had to be there for Two; they couldn’t continue to help Lucario.

_You should at least see what Red thinks, first. Otherwise…_

_What about Oak?_ Two asked.

_I don’t know if that’s a good idea,_ Ri said.

They had trusted Red to Oak, but Red came back because Oak had been too controlling. Likely, nothing had changed in the meantime, and Oak would do the same to Lucario.

“Oak?”

Now they had to explain.

_Oak is a professor north of us in Pallet Town. He studies pokemon there, so there’s a lot of other pokemon around, but none of them are Lucario, and Oak has been somewhat controlling of Red in the past, which is why he’s living here with us. He’s a friend, almost, but it probably isn’t good for you to go there if he’ll try to do that again._

“I won’t let a human control me again.”

_Then, perhaps that’s not the best option,_ Two said, admitting Ri was right.

“No, what I mean – will he force me like Aaron did?”

_I – think you should ask Red. He was the one who lived with him,_ Ri said.

“Where is he?”

_We can fetch him._

They searched for Red with their senses, and found him in the living room, wondering about Lucario. It was perhaps good of them to bring him down, so they didn’t bother feeling bad about it.

_Red? Lucario wants to talk – do you mind coming down to see him?_

Red couldn’t reply, of course, but they sensed him coming. He appeared within a couple minutes, ready to talk.

“How is it going?” Red asked, wondering about Lucario.

“I am weak – but I am more at ease.”

Red seemed worried for Lucario; that was generally why Ri wanted Lucario to talk with him before choosing to leave.

“Then… what did you want to talk about?”

“Ri and Two say you have lived with Oak. Would you say that he would try to control me like Arron did?

“Wouldn’t Ri and Two be better suited to answer this?”

_We weren’t the ones living with him; what you feel about it matters, even if you’re biased against it._

“Alright… Oak cared, I think, he just wasn’t doing it in the right way.”

“That sounds a lot like what Aaron did to me.”

“I could fight him,” Red said, seeing what Lucario was thinking. “It was frustrating to me because I didn’t feel like I should have to fight to do what I want.”

“Would Oak leave me alone to live there?”

“He would ask you to work; he had me work to help him support me.”

“What was the work?”

“Generally helping the pokemon in his lab – caring for them, since it’s easier for pokemon to do it.”

“Could I protect them?”

“I – wouldn’t say they need protecting,” Red said. “Generally, they are safe with Oak.”

“Can I protect myself against Oak?”

“I don’t think Oak would force you to do anything – he might just be pushy with what he thinks is right – but I never felt like he was doing that.”

“Will he let me visit?”

“He wouldn’t stop you – he didn’t stop me from leaving.”

Something seemed to click in Lucario’s mind – Red freely leaving seemed to seal the deal for him.

“I want to live with Oak.”

Ri and Two glanced at each other; they didn’t expect that to happen.

_We’ll have to see if Oak is OK with it, too,_ Ri said.

“You are right… that would be fair.”

_We’ll go and talk to him,_ Ri said.

“I might like to talk with him, too.”

_Perhaps… we’ll tell him, and you can call him from your own room after?_

Red nodded; he appreciated them considering his privacy. They got up and went to their office, and packed themselves in together in front of Ri’s computer to talk to Oak. It was going to be surprising to him hearing from them – they hadn’t really spoken since Red left. Ri dialed, though, and turned on the webcam so Oak could see them. Momentarily, Oak appeared on the screen, just as surprised as they expected him to be.

“Ri! Two! It was quite a surprise to see you calling me. How can I help?”

“Professor, we went up to Rota recently, a city-state north-west of Mount Moon, and we came back with a Lucario who needs a place to stay. He’s pretty adamant about living with you, but we thought we should see what you think before sending him to you.”

“Mmm. Yes, I was quite intrigued to find that Rota had found its long-lost Lucario, and to see that that Lucario was in fact you! I wondered, then if you would call me to ask for help. I didn’t expect this of you, though; after Red, I would have thought that you would not think to send anybody else to me.”

Ri was surprised Oak knew of the incident in Rota; they didn’t expect news of Rota to travel even as far as Kanto. Ri felt himself blush and his ears go back; it was quite embarrassing, thinking of the sorts of headlines and commentary they got, especially from Kanto, where people knew them as gym leaders. “Ancient Lucario appears in the midst of Rotan festival celebrating their fabled Aura Guardian among a Mewtwo and a Zoroark! Disrupting the ceremony, the trio of pokemon were carted off quickly by Lady Evelyn, the ceremonial ruler of the city state…” but everyone in Kanto would realize it’s just Ri and Two causing disruptions… Ri hoped they wouldn’t get letters from the League this time about it.

Ri needed to focus back on the conversation; he remembered that Oak had said he was surprised they were going to him for this.

“You… weren’t our first choice. Lucario wants to be among people, but he doesn’t want to stay with us or go back to Rota or find a trainer. Otherwise… we had offered to send him to Kalos to live with a pack.”

“I don’t know whether to be relieved or insulted; I suppose I’m just glad you thought of me at all. How is this Lucario?”

“Currently, he’s weak; his aura has been drained from him. He’s recovering, so he’s going to stay with us a little while longer. Otherwise… he was trapped in a staff by his old master a thousand years ago. He is still learning about this new world, and he needs help getting over what was done to him.

“Why wouldn’t he stay with you? It seems that you are perfectly equipped to help him.”

“He insists. He’s probably right; we can’t handle him right now.”

“I’m confused, Ri. Red did not get along with me well when he turned into Zoroark; I don’t know why you would send another pokemon to me when it seems like this pokemon would have the same problems.”

“Red said that you weren’t as bad as his old master was. His old master forced him into the staff; Red said you wouldn’t force him to do anything. He seems to trust Red, and he feels confident that he can stand up for himself if he needs to.”

“Whatever the case, I’ve learned my lesson, and I miss having Red around to help me. It would be good to have a new friend to talk to, too.”

“He’s likely going to be guarded at first – I think he’s willing to live with you because he thinks you’re generally going to leave him alone.”

“If Lucario is in the state you say he’s in, I won’t push him to do anything.”

“He expects to work – I think he wants to care for the pokemon.”

“Then, I would love to have his help, if you send him over.”

“Just… be careful with him,” Ri said, feeling a little bit sick since Lucario was about to be taken out of his and Two’s hands. “It’s going to be hard for him to learn to trust you; respect that, since I don’t want to send him somewhere he’s going to be hurt again.”

“You and Two have changed my mind about pokemon – If you can go and make a ruckus in a foreign state, you’re more than able to care for yourselves. I was wrong to be overbearing; I mean to give Lucario the space he deserves.”

Ri felt somewhat reassured; that was better than the alternative.

“We will send him to you, then, when he’s regained a bit more of his aura.”

“I look forward to meeting him.”

“That is reassuring to us; we were worried that you wouldn’t want him to live with you.”

“It’s a good thing you checked; I may not have been so happy if he appeared one day on my doorstep.”

That’s kind of what Ri and Two were thinking. Ri didn’t bother saying anything, though – he felt it was about time to finish the conversation.

“If that is all… Ri – Two – it’s good to know you’re doing OK. Whenever you want, come visit, and you can see Lucario, and Red can see his friends, too.”

“... Thanks, I suppose,” Ri said. “It seems we’ll see you when Lucario is ready to come over.”

“I will see you then.”

Ri was about to sign off, but Two caught him.

_Red._

Ri had almost forgotten; he stopped, and made sure Oak was still on.

“Uh – Red mentioned to us he wanted to talk to you; he’s going to call you later, too, when he has a moment.”

“Two calls from Cinnabar in one day – that’s _quite_ the rare occasion. I’ll be sure to be watching for it.”

Oak turned away this time, so Ri hung up without it being too awkward. He sighed; releasing the tension of the conversation. It wasn’t so easy to talk to Oak after what happened with Red, or now after what had happened in Rota; that’s why they hadn’t called him after it happened.

_That was pretty tough, Two._

_At least it went about as well as it could have._

_Yeah – but I don’t like that we made the news even here in Kanto._

_Hopefully the League will understand._

_Hopefully._

… _I suppose we should get back to Red and Lucario._

_Yeah._

They went back, finding Red and Lucario conversing about people and pokemon a bit. It was quite a light conversation, they were happy to see; it meant that Lucario likely wasn’t going to be bitter _all_ the time.

“Was Oak willing to have me?”

_He seemed excited, from what we could tell. He seems like he’s learned since Red, so perhaps it will be pretty good for you._

“So I will live with him?”

_Yeah – when you’ve recovered a little bit more._

“I suppose I must – to meet Oak, I should regain my senses.”

_You can barely walk without help, anyway; it will be a few days before your powers return._

“I do not mind the wait, now that everything is settled.”

Lucario really did seem calmer now; it was a relief to see. Things could get back to normal, finally.

#  \--––—Epilogue—––--

Ri, Two, and Red watched over Lucario until he recovered enough to walk, and then he stayed until he felt his senses return. In the meantime, they tried interacting with him so that he didn’t feel stuck inside their home. Ri showed him his music, which brought him to grow a liking for electronic music, and Two showed him some of the puzzles he liked solving, which he found interesting, but did not have the patience to complete himself. Red showed him what he did, for fun, too – different types of video games that Ri and Two weren’t interested in themselves. It was a dose of modern, independent thinking before he went off to face Oak by himself, which they thought might help him.

They realized he was ready almost a week after they talked to Oak, and in that time, Lucario had increasingly re-adapted to their schedules and lives. It was almost sad to think that he was leaving, but Ri and Two saw how he was going to be a burden to them – they wanted to be able to see him, but they agreed that he needed to go somewhere else.

The next morning, they brought him to Oak’s lab. It was strange, visiting again, years after they nearly stormed it angry at him for mistreating Red. They really did hope he learned something since then; they didn’t want to have to save Lucario, too. Red came along, too, and he got to see the pokemon he kept as a trainer – Ri realized that it had been a long time now since they’d seen each other. They let him go off to catch up while they dealt with Lucario and Oak in Oak’s office.

That first meeting was a little tense, but once they both started to figure out who the other was, it relaxed a bit. It seemed clear to Ri that Oak meant to be respectful of Lucario, now; Ri was grateful for that. Lucario seemed to accept Oak; Ri was relieved for that, too. They agreed for Lucario to move into Red’s old room, and Oak agreed that Lucario should have his own access to technology in it, so Ri and Two gave him a computer he could use in there. They agreed that Lucario would help with Oak in the lab, and Lucario was excited to meet and care for the pokemon within it – Ri still wasn’t sure what he expected of the lab, but if it was fulfilling for him to have those pokemon around, then Ri couldn’t blame him for wanting to care for them.

They ended up spending most of the day at Oak’s lab, mostly so that Red could have whatever time he wanted with his friends. Later on, they joined him so they could say hi, too, but otherwise, they visited other pokemon, and tried relaxing in the lab, wondering what it was like to live there all day. Ri personally felt a bit caged in, like a farm animal – he didn’t particularly enjoy it, but he could accept it since he understood he was free. After dinner with Oak, they all said goodbye, and Ri and Two prepared to let go of Lucario. When they went back, it was almost depressing – the change of pace was kind of nice, for a while – but it was also strangely comforting to return to normal after everything that had happened – it left them all feeling weird for a while until they opened their gym and reintegrated back into their normal lives. However it felt in the middle of the day, though, things were just slightly different – they had a new friend, and they could at least check up on him and talk; Lucario hadn’t disappeared completely from their lives, he was just slightly removed, so that they didn’t have to deal with all the hardships of having him around all the time. They needed to heal again, too, and learn to deal with the new feelings and thoughts they had discovered in Rota. It was clear that they weren’t healed pokemon, but they also learned things that made them excited to push on, and having Lucario as a friend reassured them that they _were_ better off than they had been.


End file.
